Return
by hawaii5063
Summary: Severus Snape is returned to early childhood in order to save his life. But sometimes what looks simple and straight forward is not what it seems. Nothing in Snape's life is ever easy, is it? (COMPLETE)
1. The Battle

Disclaimer: This is definitely not the work of JK Rowlings – that incredible author of immense talent – nor is any copyright infringement meant to her, Warner Bros., Scholastic, Bloomsbury, or anyone else. I am making no money from this either. I am simply borrowing Ms. Rowling's creations and taking them out for a mental spin in my mind's convertible. I will have them back soon and mostly unharmed.

This story was written in response to all those "cute, little Snapie" stories out there. I have enjoyed reading them, but I couldn't help but wonder if perhaps a small Snape was perhaps a bit more problematic then those authors were imagining. After all, nothing in Snape's life is ever simple, is it?

Chapter one – The Battle

The battle swirled with a ferocity that Albus Dumbledore had never experienced before, and he had lived a very long time. Indeed, he had been in battle prior to this – far too many times against far too many opponents, but still, nothing rivaled the sheer force of magical energy that this stand against Voldemort was creating. For Voldemort had foolishly attacked the strongest bastion of magic the wizarding world had ever seen – Hogwarts. And Hogwarts, along with help from the older students and teachers, was holding its own. Still, the Death Eaters were unleashing as much destruction as they could. Realizing that their hopes for an easy victory had been dashed, they clearly hoped to turn the tide of battle in their favor by creating panic in their enemies. They were using every trick in the book – animating trees, creating infernos in the sky, and calling forth every willing demon from the Forbidden Forest. The teachers in turn had grouped the older students into small bands with similar talents to their own, and were busy matching the Death Eaters with equally powerful tricks. Professor Sprout and her group had created traps among the natural foliage that slowed the attacks. Hagrid and his band of less than merry students had unleashed those creatures in which Hagrid had carefully cultivated a relationship and they were wreaking havoc. Flitwick had helped direct the powerful charms and hexes that were meeting the Death Eaters with constant force. And McGonagall's group was unleashing all the power and fury that wild and immortal thinking teenagers can create once aroused. There were other bands at work too, and Dumbledore sent out telepathic orders to each in turn, watching the battle as it turned decidedly in favor of the Light. But Dumbledore knew that he had predominantly two entities to thank for Hogwarts success this bloody night. The first was the castle itself. Few knew or were willing to believe that Hogwarts was actually a sentient creation of the founders. It had been enchanted with an ability to think and a will to survive. The fact that Voldemort and his minions had sought to damage it in their initial assault caused it to rise up against them. Now it hurled stones at its enemy, launched wrought iron arrows from its parapet railings, and sucked wayward Death Eaters into its stones if they wandered to close. The second well of gratitude belonged to Severus Snape. He had alerted the Light to Voldemort's plans, arriving back at the castle minutes before the attack, but long enough to gather the younger children to safety and the older ones to their pre-appointed groups. He had then led a small band of Slytherins and Ravenclaws along the grounds, reporting Death Eater positions as well and accurately as any of her Majesty's Royal Scouts could ever have possibly done. Dumbledore knew too that the Head of Slytherin would soon leave this group to locate Voldemort himself, and then carefully contrive to move the Dark Lord to a preset location, where Harry Potter would hopefully dispatch the menace and end the bloodshed. 

"Headmaster, I am going in." The voice of Severus Snape filled Dumbledore's head. He and other Heads of Houses had been working on this ability for months. They had perfected it just in time.

"Godspeed", was the only thing the old Headmaster could think to answer.

Dumbledore listened in on Snape's thoughts the best he could. He heard him argue with fellow Death Eaters about the need to speak with the Dark Lord. He could sense his fear as he made his way to his other master. He knew Severus' repulsion as the reptilian man touched Severus' face and thanked him for the information on where Potter was 'hiding'. And despite the noise of whirring hexes that circled around him – indeed flying once within inches of him –he could clearly hear Severus' chant to himself "let this work, let this work, let this work."

And work it did. The Dark Lord was met at an unexpected moment by the wand point of one Harry Potter. Voldemort made the mistake of laughing, thinking his men with him and Potter incapable of a killing curse. But the arrogant man had been so focused on thoughts of his oncoming glory that he had not noticed his minions quietly being picked off by Flitwick's well trained hexers, and now he stood facing Potter alone. He had not even lifted his wand when Potter uttered a curse in Parseltongue. The curse was an ancient one, discovered by Snape in the margins of one of his previously forgotten dark arts texts. It could be uttered only in Parseltongue, only by one whose mother had been killed, and then used only against the murderer. It called forth the combined power of a child's pain and a grandmother's fury. It had been created by a coven of heartsick Slytherin grandmothers over eight hundred years ago, for use by their grandchildren against a marauding wizard nobleman whose men took and killed all the village's women. It worked as well now as it did then. With a flash of blood red light, Voldemort was gone.

At the instant of his death a searing pain gripped the mark of all Death Eaters, and one Severus Snape. The mark burned and sizzled and smoked, taking the flesh along with it. The Death Eaters dropped to their knees and Dumbledore cut all mental ties with Severus so as not to be distracted by his pain. The students in charge of binding the Death Eaters went to work, for once the mark ceased to burn and disappeared, they would be out of time. It was easy to find them though, for their screams of pain made their locations obvious, and within a few hours all were bound and being removed by aurors whom entered Hogwarts' grounds once the Death Eaters' containment spells were removed. In the meantime Dumbledore was busy processing his loses, which although light, where still heartbreaking. Nine students were dead, all either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, one staff member –Filch, 14 dead magical creatures, and 23 seriously injured others. It was because of all this that the usually all-wise headmaster did not think to reconnect with his Slytherin House Head until he was asked for his whereabouts by Harry Potter himself, who was now resting against a tree. Ron was sitting slumped next to him, tears for Dean Thomas still staining his face. Hermione Granger, who had been resting her head against Harry's shoulders sat up at the mention of Professor Snape's name and looked too questioningly at the Headmaster. The old man frowned and took a deep breath before attempting to reestablish the mental link. When he did so he jumped to his feet with a look of panic on his face that caused the trio to scramble to their feet as well.

"What is it Headmaster?" squeaked Hermione.

Dumbledore looked around frantically for another staff member and waived McGonagall over to him. "I need you all to come with me," he stated with a firmness that no one questioned. 

Then he placed his wand in his hand and uttered a quick "Point Me" spell and added Severus Snape's name. The wand spun and as soon as it stopped Dumbledore set off at a run. They ran past broken logs, burning tree trunks and even a few aurors stooped over dead bodies until they came to an old oak tree by the edge of the forest. There they found Severus Snape sitting, back against the tree trunk with his wand pointed at his own heart. He was clearly trying to gather the courage up to say the spell that would put a final end to his misery.

The sound of five people coming towards him attracted the admittedly split attention of Snape, who knew immediately that this was now a 'now or never' decision. He would have less than 3 seconds before the old geezer had his wand out and the spell took at least 1.5 seconds to recite. He therefore began the incantation immediately. He never did get past "Avada" however, not because of any lack of will, but rather because his addled mind had forgotten that the old man was also a powerful wizard whom not only did not need a wand if he chose to go without, but also had a direct connection with his mind. A thunderous "Stupefy" resounded in his brain, and Severus Snape fell over, his wand rolling harmlessly away from his hand.  

The children, and they were still children to the Headmaster, as well as the Minerva, joined Dumbledore in gathering around the dark and dirty form of the unconscious Potions Master. His robes were torn and his face scratched from crawling through underbrush earlier that day, and once again the older wizard noticed that his youngest Head of House had so many circles under his eyes and lines on his face that he might have well been judged the oldest among the four. He sighed and bent down to touch the young man's temple. He whispered the word "Leglimens" and was immediately surrounded by visions of swirling dark shadows that were filling Snape's subconscious. The oppressiveness of the scene and the feeling of being sucked down were so intense that when he released the spell he knew immediately what he must be done. He looked into the questioning eyes of those around him and explained.

"Several months ago, while researching the spell you used today Harry, Professor Snape came across a spell that he asked me to perform on him if he was to survive Voldemort's defeat. It is a very complicated spell and is considered dark as well. Few are aware of it anymore but all the same it did not seem like an appropriate solution. I refused him. He asked me repeatedly for the following month, attempting to argue his point, but I always refused." Dumbledore paused at this point because his voice was cracking. 

"You said an 'appropriate solution'," prompted Hermione, "for what?"

The Headmaster thought a moment and then continued more calmly, "For his decision that life was no longer worth living for him."

It was Harry's turn to question, "What does the spell do, Sir?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It would make him…well, rather, it would return him to, an earlier form."

The students looked confused so McGonagall stated it bluntly for her young Gryffindors. "I believe what the Headmaster is saying is that Professor Snape wished to be made a child again."

They all looked to the Headmaster for confirmation of this. "Yes, a child. And a small one at that. He wanted to be made as young as possible and then placed in an orphanage. He was hoping I would be able to alter the magical paperwork on him through my contacts at the ministry. He was hoping his second life might be…well, superior than his first."

The next query was softly spoken and its owner surprised the Headmaster. "Why didn't you do it?" asked Ron Weasley with all sincerity.

"I have always believed in facing yourself, not running away," was the Headmaster's reply. "Although I believe I may have been misguided this time. It is either this spell or St. Mungos for Severus now."

Minerva shook her head firmly. "Not St. Mungos. He'll never survive a week there. They are overloaded as it is, and with the new admissions from the battle he'll find a way to take his life. I am sure of it."

Dumbledore and she exchanged a few silent communications with each other and then he nodded. "I will perform the spell. But I will need you four to help. I have expended large amounts of energy these last few hours and I am a bit weak. Allow me to draw what strength I may from you?"

The others nodded their assent. They formed a circle around the unconscious man and pointed their wands at him as instructed.  Dumbledore closed his eyes and began a quiet chant. After a few moments the old wizard found himself being drawn into Severus' mind. While he was aware that his corporeal body remained on the forest's edge, he also found himself standing in a dark stone corridor, one end in a distance too far to fathom and on the other end of the hallway a doorway of bright light. He continued to repeat the spell's incantation and eventually there slowly emerged the form of Severus Snape from the distance. He walked towards his Headmaster, but his ultimate goal was clearly the light in the distance. As he passed Dumbledore, unseeing, Albus noticed that Severus was considerable younger. Somewhere in his twenties if he had to guess. As he continued walking Severus became younger and younger, his form shrinking rapidly as he approached the light. Suddenly Albus was aware of what the light meant. It was the point of no return. The time before a person existed. No wonder the spell was considered dark magic. Although his body was both old and exhausted from the day's events, Albus took off at a run after his Potion's Master who was now a very small child. But as he picked up speed it seemed that Severus did too. The small child was running now and then miraculously he was now floating towards the light. Albus dived to grab him and caught hold a tiny limb just before it touched the light. He pulled the infant toward him. Small tufts of black hair hung about the tiny head, and unfocused black eyes peered at him. His skin had a white, waxy substance on it. Albus' eyes wandered over the infant body. Small ribs showed through and there appeared a stump at his navel. "No, no, this will not do at all my friend. You are far too small to care for like this. One your size needs a mother, and that I do not have for you."

He pulled the babe to his chest and began to walk cautiously in the other direction, away from the lighted doorway. As he walked, using the smallest of steps, he could feel the body grow larger in his arms. Occasionally he would look down to check on the child's progress, and he would be met with dark eyes and a frown, but never a sound. Eventually Dumbledore stopped and looked the boy over thoroughly. He was still small, and as Severus had always been tiny for his age – up until puberty that is –it was difficult for Albus to judge. He finally decided that he was somewhere near a year and a half, and that he was probably old enough to deal with, but young enough to make a fresh beginning. "We have arrived, I believe," Albus said softly, trying to smile at the clearly confused child. And with that he ceased the incantation his subconscious had continued to chant all the while and he found himself once again on Hogwarts ground. Lying on the dirt, atop a pile of black, dirty robes was now a small boy with a very unhappy look on his small face. Staring at him in amazement were the other members of the spell circle.

McGonagall was the first to speak. "Well, that seems to have been a success. We were becoming worried Headmaster. It is getting late." She nodded her head toward the sinking sun.

"Of course, I apologize, it appeared to be a much shorter time to me. To us," the Headmaster added quickly. "We should go inside. I am sure the aurors have more questions for all of us. And I would appreciate if no one would mention the situation with our Head of Slytherin."

Ron could not keep back a chuckle at the use of Dumbledore's description, but Hermione silenced him with a glare.

"Of course we won't say anything Headmaster," Hermione responded, "but you aren't really going to give him over to an orphanage, are you? I am sure there is someone who would take him in."

Dumbledore's eyes gave a twinkle in the growing darkness. "Are you volunteering, my dear?"

An embarrassed Hermione gave the tiniest shake of her head. The Headmaster chuckled, "I thought not. Our Potion's Professor is not at all popular. Something that I do not think was lost on him. But no, Ms. Granger, I do not intend to put him in an orphanage. I will care for him for as long as possible, or until I find him a suitable home."

And with that a very tired Albus Dumbledore headed across the grounds and up the castle stairs with several members of the House of Gryffindor in his wake and a very young Slytherin in his arms.

Authors note: I realize that this chapter is not very long, but I just wanted to get the concept out there to see how it is received. If you like it (or not) let me know. 


	2. Getting To Know You

A quick thank you to those of you who have reviewed, whether on fanfiction.net or by sending me an email. Knowing that people like the direction the story appears to be going is very encouraging.

Chapter 2 – Getting To Know You

Albus waved a cheery good-bye to the last of the investigators for the day, although he felt anything but cheery inside. So far everything was going as well as he could have hoped. The Ministry was accepting his decision to have used the older students in combat – something which even the dolts at the Ministry must have realized required pre-planning. And only a few of the parents of the children killed seemed to be holding him personally responsible. Most seem to have accepted that without the help of their child, all the students, including their own, would have been slaughtered. There was no way Hogwarts could have withstood the assault with only a dozen staff members standing in its defense. Still, the death of children was never easy to accept, especially for a Headmaster, and even the defeat of Voldemort and his minions could not bring true happiness to the old man's heart. Indeed Voldemort himself, and nearly all the Death Eaters, had once been Albus' charges, and he could not but help feel that their deaths were in some way his responsibility too.

This feeling was heightened as he looked at the baby on the floor near his desk. He had once been a Death Eater – one of the few whom Albus had managed to save. Or had he really saved him? After all, Severus had come within seconds of taking his own life earlier this week. 

Albus sighed, and bent down in front of the baby and looked him over carefully. He had charmed a circle of limit around the child, but it seemed all for naught. The toddler had shown no desire to move from the spot he had been placed that morning, not bothering to try and touch anything that Albus preferred him not to. Indeed, he was plainly ignoring every toy placed within the circle and had spent the entire morning watching Albus with dark, curious eyes. As it had been for the last three days, Severus had uttered not a sound. He had taken food and drink when offered, had shown an amazingly early ability to use the toilet by himself, had fallen asleep when placed in his cot, and had allowed himself to be dressed and washed by Albus, but other than that, he had shown no other signs of being a living human being. All he did all day long was sit and stare.

So Albus sat on his haunches, and stared back at the boy. After a moment he mumbled 'Legilimens' and found himself looking at none other than his own self. Pictures and scenes of the last three days swirled around him; he carrying the boy, talking to the boy, dressing the boy, talking into the fireplace, talking with aurors, writing on parchment. Dumbledore decided to go deeper. It was very difficult. The grown Severus Snape was skilled at Occulumency, and it seemed his younger counterpart had indeed some natural skill. He was clearly trying to block Albus' attempts to go further. This startled and concerned Albus, for if the child clearly did not want him to go further, did he have a right to continue? Finally he decided against it and pulled back. When he cut the connection and looked at his charge he now found that Severus had a look of pure anger on his face. In any other situation Albus may have found such a look funny. Indeed to see such a scathing Potion's Master glare on the face of one so young clearly had its comical aspects. But Albus knew that whatever tiny trust he may have been building with the boy the last few days was now destroyed. Perhaps he should have gone all the way, since it obviously could not have made the child any angrier anyhow.

Albus' musing was interrupted by gentle multiple bell tones which indicted several people were making their way up his staircase. A quick glance into a small silver bowl on his desk let him know whom to expect. "We have company, my boy."

A moment later the door swung open to welcome Harry, Ron and Hermione. The three were smiling and looking much better then they had the last few days. They apparently had concluded all their interviews with the Ministry officials as well as reporters. Dumbledore welcomed them in and settled them all in comfortable chairs with cups of tea. For the first few minutes they all sat quietly, unsure where to begin. Finally Hermione broke the silence. "Did the Ministry give you a hard time about Professor Snape, Headmaster?"

"No my dear, not a bit. I simply told them Professor Snape has gone out of the country to deal privately with his loses. As for the child, he is a friend's son whom I am caring for. By the way, his name is Sebastian Venenum as far as they are concerned.

Hermione chuckled and both Ron and Harry looked at her quizzically. She ignored them. "They don't suspect anything then?" she addresses the Headmaster.

The Headmaster smiled smugly. "The Ministry of Magic would not suspect anything that is not written on their foreheads in India ink. They were the ones after all who would not allow aurors to be stationed at the school permanently, because there was after all _no indication of a possible attack on Hogwarts."_

The others nodded their heads in agreed disgust.

"Has he spoken yet, Sir?" asked Harry, looking over at Severus.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, he has made nary a sound since...well, since his return to his current state. Madame Pomphrey – who by the way is aware of the origins of our guest – has found no reason for this lack of age appropriate sounds. Indeed she thinks he may be older than I originally thought. Possibly past two years of age. By all rights he should be speaking."

All eyes fell on the smallest person in the room, who was now clearly glaring at the lot of them, as if he wasn't the slightest bit pleased to be spoken about. Ron laughed and nodded towards him. "He's not nearly as scary this size, now is he?"

Both Dumbledore and Harry laughed aloud, but Hermione gave the toddler an apologetic look, just in case he was holding her responsible for the idiocy of her friends, which he probably was.

Harry then got to his feet and walked over to the boy. He kneeled down a foot or so in front of the child. "Hello there little man," he said. "My name's Harry. Is your name Sebastian?"

The toddler got to his feet and took a step back. Then he glanced back to Harry and to the floor, as if he was asking Harry to come closer again to him. Harry stood up and walked forward, unknowingly stepping right past the invisible barrier that Severus could not cross. The tiny Potions Master dropped to his knees and Harry followed suit. Then to everyone shock, and Albus' horror, Severus picked up a carved wooded toy horse and swung it directly into Harry's nose. Blood spurted everywhere and Harry's glasses dropped, cracked and mangled, to the floor. He jumped to his feet, holding his nose the best he could, and trying to suppress a roar of anger and agony.  Ron was frozen in horror but Hermione and the Headmaster reacted quickly. Hermione cast a quick spell to stop the bleeding and repaired Harry's glasses. Then another spell to bring down the swelling and guided Harry to a chair so he could relax until the pain subsided. Dumbledore dropped the circle limiting spell and snatched up Severus, though not before reducing the offending horse to sawdust. He placed Severus in a chair with his two hands held firmly in place by Dumbledore's large right hand and touched his left pointer finger directly to Severus' chest. The boy's eyes met his with a challenge, but Albus had enough experience with Slytherins to know not to back down. 

"You did that on purpose. I know you did. And I know you can understand me too. YOU WILL NOT HURT OTHERS. Not ever again. Understood?"

Hermione and Ron watched in amazement. Dumbledore looked quite angry, and while they found it a bit frightening, the small boy was clearly holding his own. He gave only the tiniest of nods to acknowledge his understanding, and then he turned his head towards Harry. Upon seeing him holding his nose with his eyes tight shut, Severus smirked. It was just enough to send Hermione and Ron into fits of laughter. 

Once Harry was recovered, Albus sent him to the infirmary to have his nose correctly positioned, for there was little doubt it had been broken. With a few snickers from Ron about "not wanting to look like Professor Snape", his friends ushered the still angry Harry from the room. At that point Albus turned on his young Slytherin whom was no longer staring at him. Instead he seemed to be glaring at a goblet of juice that Dumbledore had given him earlier. Severus had drunk only half and now it appeared to the older man that the boy was trying to will the remainder to come to him. Magic at that young of an age was rare, and as far as Albus could see, if the boy was trying to move the goblet to himself with wandless magic he was having absolutely no luck. "You may fetch the goblet if you like Sebastian." 

Severus swung his head at the sound of his artificial name and once again tried to glare Albus into the floor. "If looks could kill," Albus chuckled to himself. 

"I know you don't like the name, but you are safer this way. The Ministry may be a bastion of dunderheads, but never underestimate the ability of a large group of fools to do harm."

Severus seemed to agree with this statement. He dropped the scowl, turned himself around on the chair and wiggled down. He then went to fetch his juice.

At that moment the fire burned green and Madame Pomfrey's head appeared. "Albus, the records you requested on Severus have arrived from St. Mungos. I had a look through them and, well, perhaps you might stop by for a chat in a bit?'

"As soon as possible," Albus assured the mediwitch, and her head disappeared from the flames.

Albus motioned for the child to follow him and set out in the general direction of the infirmary. He did not take a direct route however, preferring to assure that Harry and company were finished at the infirmary before they arrived. It was a Saturday, so those few students whose parents where not taking advantage of the one week emergency recess the school was taking, were happily frequenting Hogsmeade or enjoying the warmth on the restored Quidditch Pitch. Albus made his way slowly down the empty corridors with a tiny Severus Snape trailing behind him. The walk had taken nearly twenty minutes already when they came across Mrs. Norris outside the infirmary doors. She had been prowling that particular hallway ever since the demise of her beloved owner in the battle. Albus bent down to scratch the poor cat's ears and she responded by sinking her teeth into his hand. Faster than Albus would have thought possible, Severus flung himself at the cat. His small body landed squarely on top of her and his small fingers gripped her neck. He pushed her head to the ground and stared into her yellow cat eyes. Then he let out a guttural growl that was as menacing as anything Mrs. Norris had ever managed. The Headmaster quickly moved to remove the boy's fingers from the poor animal's neck and lifted him off her. The cat flew like lightening down the hallway, a bit of mangy fur remaining in Severus's hand. The boy remained shaking in fury, and Albus could feel his heartbeat through his small shirt.

"Now, now child. She did not harm me. She is simply upset herself.  She and Old Argus go back many a year." 

Severus seemed to relax a little, so Albus placed his feet back to the ground and took his small hand in his own. He then led him into the infirmary. 

Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk in the office on the other side of the room. She smiled and entered the main area as they approached. She greeted the Headmaster and then lowered her head towards Severus. She was careful though to keep a bit of distance Albus noticed amusedly. "I must say young man, you did quite a bit of damage to Mr. Potter. Took me a good ten minutes to set his nose properly." She tried to say it with a stern face, but Albus could see the corners of her mouth twitching as she tried to hold back a smile.

The mediwitch went to fetch the file while Albus carefully placed Severus on one of the beds. He transfigured some play things from various items even though he knew full well that Severus would not touch any of them. Still, it seemed rather cruel to leave a child sitting on a bed with absolutely no toys for what might take a considerable amount of time. He felt pretty certain though that when he returned he would find his charge doing nothing but glaring at the wall.

The file from St Mungos was quite thin. There were only a few pieces of parchment from the days that proceeded Severus' Hogwarts education. The first recorded his birth, which had taken place at home, but he had been visited by a mediwitch shortly thereafter. The next entry involved a consultation with a healer concerning the early use of magic on the part of the child. The child was less than a year at the time, and the healer noted that he explained the impossibility of magic manifesting itself at that stage. The third visit was at age three. Severus' hearing was tested and his vocal ability checked. Apparently he was not speaking. No obvious problem could be found. The last three visits all involved potions accidents caused by experimentation on the part of the youth. Most apparently involved contaminated ingredients, since the boy had located the necessary items himself.

Once he had read through the file, Albus turned to the mediwitch. "Does this file tell you anything that might be helpful?"

The mediwitch shook her head. "No, it doesn't tell me anything. Indeed, what it does not tell me that I find helpful. Where for instance is the broken nose that you and I both know he must have had before coming to school here? Where is the explanation for the scar that runs along the side of his ribcage? It is quite clear now at age two, but was even visible at age 39. He told me once that it he had been cut by a broken crystal goblet. Why is that not listed here?"

Albus shook his head and sighed. "Poppy," he said quietly, "we both know, and have known since he was a first year, that Severus was mistreated most dreadfully by his parents. I doubt that they would bring him to St Mungos to have treated what they themselves inflicted. Now I ask you again, tell me what it is you see in that report."

Poppy smiled slightly. The Headmaster knew her far too well. She had been stalling, setting up her case for her argument, as ludicrous as it might sound, so that Albus would be more likely to accept her hypothesis. Especially since it would involve some horrible design on the part of the boy's parents that even she couldn't quite figure out. "What if, as odd as it might seem, that Severus really did do magic before he was a year old?" she queried.

Albus chuckled. "Well, it certainly would be something. I supposedly did my first bit of magic at 16 months. Although I am aware that anything prior to age three is rather unusual." Then his tone became more serious. "If they somehow stopped him from producing certain sounds, that could indeed dampen his ability to produce magic. But why would they do that? And once he could speak, the magic would have returned. Severus was powerful, but not as powerful a wizard as one who performed magic at under a year would be. Besides, why take away his ability to make these sounds and then bring him to St. Mungos to find out why he couldn't?

The mediwitch shrugged. "I don't know Albus, but something is just not right. We know the Snapes were horrible people, well, the father anyway…"

They were interrupted by the sound of a small explosion in the main room. Both of them ran out of the office as quick as they could manage, only to find the young Slytherin standing silently next to a small burnt side table. On the table where several vials, most half broken or completely upended, their liquids sizzling and smoking and creating swirls of unnatural colors. In the center of the table was a half melted porcelain washing bowl in which the budding alchemist had clearly poured all the vials he could get his hands on.

Madam Pomfrey closed her eyes and shook her head. "That's nearly all the supplies I had left. The battle used nearly everything else out."

Dumbledore cleaned up what mess he could with his wand before he approached the boy and murmured a cleaning spell over him as well. "Trying out a bit of potion making, now are we?" he asked in as stern a voice as he could muster since he was more amused than angry. After all it was his own fault. He had forgotten to place a circle of limit on the child.

Severus just stared at the empty bowl for a moment more. Then the toddler picked up the bowl with both hands and headed towards the door.

"We are taking our cauldron with us," Dumbledore called out over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling, as he followed the small boy out.

Author's note: The last name given to Sebastian by Albus is Venenum. Which according to the online English-Latin dictionary I used means "Potion". That is why Hermione laughed.


	3. Birds of a Feather

A quick note of thanks again to all the kind reviewers. And a special note of thanks to Nexus3 who pointed out that I had the "don't accept anonymous reviews" button checked. It's off now and I apologize to anyone who wanted to review but couldn't. It is my first story posted at fanfiction.net and I am sort of feeling my way through this.

Also, to those who asked, yes, eventually we will find out why Severus doesn't talk. But not in this chapter.

Chapter 3 – Birds of  Feather

The summer term was back in session, with only three weeks remaining until the year would be over. It would be a momentous finish, thought Albus Dumbledore. The departing students would include the Boy-Who-Lived, his two closest friends, the son of Voldemort's right hand man, and the remaining young heroes of last months battle. Yes, the class would also include some students whom spent the battle locked in the dungeons. Severus had spent the preceding months carefully viewing the thought patterns of his sleeping Slytherins to determine who could be trusted. An occasional drop of veritaserum in their tea while having a one-to-one chat with their Head of House helped as well to establish the loyalties of those still in doubt. To Albus' delight, many of Slytherins proved to be more frightened of the Dark Lord than supportive. And when the battle began, the knowledge that Professor Snape was standing against Voldemort along side them, gave those who would always chose to save their own necks first, the courage to join their classmates. 

It was an innocuous end to such a triumphant year however for one of his staff member. The one standing in a small black jumper before a white porcelain bowl, pouring various vials of colored liquid into it. Albus sighed and watched him for a few minutes. Severus had been fascinated with this activity for weeks. The Headmaster had provided him with a dozen bottles of refilling colored liquids. Severus would mix whichever ones he chose together, creating numerous color combinations, dip empty vials into his creations, cork them and then deliver them to Albus. He would then return to his bowl, watch it magically drain as Albus had charmed it to, and then immediately return to Albus and take back the bottles he had only moments ago handed him. After those bottle where drained, Severus would start the process over again. He did this for hours on end and at times Albus thought he might destroy the entire apparatus if he had to pretend to gratefully accept one more of Severus' "potions" again. "Well, whatever keeps the lad happy," he sighed to himself.

The only other activity that Severus engaged in was staring at various objects. Several times a day he would wander around Albus' rooms, leveling an intense stare at whatever items he had decided on. After a few minutes, the object of his attention would be abandoned for another such object, and the process would be repeated until the toddler eventually grew either tired or grumpy and would crawl into a chair and fall asleep.

The boy's presence in the school was otherwise unremarkable. For the most part Albus kept him in their rooms, only occasionally asking Dobby to watch him. Since Severus refused to acknowledge Dobby's presence, Albus would occasionally coax either Minerva or Poppy to come and sit with him as well.

It was therefore a surprise when Phineas Nigellus suddenly spoke up, directing his comment at the small child, as if he where on familiar terms with him, "Now, now boy, you have made the color green three times in a row. Try something more difficult. I suggest silver, since it is the second of our founder's colors."

Albus Dumbledore rose from his chair and stood directly by the portrait of the former Slytherin Headmaster.

"You are aware then who the child is?" he asked.

Phineas snorted, "Of course."

"How?"

The portrait rolled its eyes. "My dear Headmaster. While nothing has been spoken of it directly in this room, the small bits of conversation and various comments that have been made were merely pieces of a very simple puzzle."

"You realize Phineas, that this information is not to be repeated."

"I assure you Headmaster, we Slytherins are nothing if not discreet. If I were you I would concern myself with some of the former Gryffindor Headmasters."  And with that he turned around and left his portrait frame in a huff.

Albus was just beginning to contemplate what Nigellus had said, when Minerva McGonagall's head appeared in the fire. She informed the Headmaster that his presence was required in the infirmary. Several students from the "Dungeon Brigade" (as the other students were calling their classmates had been unceremoniously locked in the dungeon when the battle commenced) had gotten into a duel with a few Gryffindors and a lone Hufflepuff. Albus called Severus to follow him and they set off.

The infirmary was thick with unspent fury as Dumbledore viewed the slightly  students, who were being held from each other only by the glares of  McGonagall and the acting Slytherin Head of House, Professor Vector.  The sight of the Headmaster brought sneers from the Dungeon Brigade, and Draco Malfoy led the troupe by turning his back. Dumbledore said nothing to them, realizing that the vast majority of that small group held him directly responsible for either the death or imprisonment of one or both their parents. Instead he turned to his Gryffindors and forming them into a tight circle, quietly lectured them about the impropriety of "rubbing salt into still raw wounds". Meanwhile the Slytherins, and they were all Slytherins, saw their opportunity to take a bit of revenge. They had seen the small boy with Dumbledore the last few weeks, although he had never before been out of the Headmaster's sight. Draco Malfoy motioned for the child to come to him, and to the surprise of the Slytherins he readily did. Draco dropped to one knee and carefully put his arm around the boy. Then he slipped his wand to the edge of his sleeve and muttered "Stupefy."

He easily caught the small child and handed him to Pansy Parkinson who quickly wrapped him inside her robes. Draco leaned over and whispered instructions to her. Parkinson then asked Vector for permission to use the loo. Vector, who was not even a Slytherin, was not the slightest bit suspicious when Pansy awkwardly shuffled out of the room.

Nearly a quarter of an hour later Albus concluded his lecture to the now thoroughly chastised Gryffindors and Hufflepuff. He then supervised their apologies to the Slytherins, including Pansy who had returned. It was only after this that Albus looked around and noticed the absence of his charge. 

After ascertaining that no one in the room had seen the boy, Albus quickly left to perform a "Point Me" spell in the corridor. He was quickly joined by Harry and Ron, whom had been among the offending Gryffindors. But the spell was much less useful in a building with many passageways and rooms, for it only worked as a general compass, giving direction and nothing more. Up and down was beyond the scope of the spell as well, not very helpful in a building with nearly as many staircases as rooms. After a half hour of fruitless searching, Albus sat down on one of the staircases and tried to connect with the boy's mind. He was met with a strange sense of feelings of recognition.

"Where are you Severus? Send me a picture of what you see," Albus conveyed his anxious message. 

The response was more auditory than visual. "Home" it seemed to say.

 Albus rushed up to his office with the two students trailing behind. They checked all the Headmaster's rooms, but Severus was nowhere to be found. Albus tried to send the message again. He received the same response. 

"Could he have meant somewhere else by 'home', Headmaster?" asked Harry. "Do you think he could have somehow been returned to his childhood home?"

Albus shook his head. "The Ministry had his home razed after his father was killed in an attack on their aurors. Mr. Snape supposedly led the attack. It was not much of a place, but it was meant as a warning to other supporters of Voldemort early in the first war. His mother had already been dead for years. That was in Professor Snape's seventh year. He lived for bit with Lucuis Malfoy after that, before he returned here to teach. This has been his home ever since. Of course he would not remember any of this. His memories should not progress beyond his current age – and that house no longer exists."

"Try again, Sir," Ron suggested. "Perhaps he thinks you'll be angry with him for wandering off. Tell him you're not sore at him." Albus almost smiled at this. Ron might look like an adult now on the outside, but Molly's youngest boy still thought like a child.

Albus tried again.  Sending a message of reassurance along with his query.

"Home!" came the response. And Albus could almost hear the disgust in Severus' telepathic voice from having to repeat himself so many times.

"He still claims he is home, I'm afraid," reported Albus despairingly. 

At that moment a rustling sound came from Headmaster Nigellus' portrait. "I think this tiresome exercise could be concluded if you would check  Professor Snape's private chambers."

The Headmaster stared momentarily at Nigellus, then decided it was never worth it to question the portrait too carefully – if he knew the answer you wanted he might just not tell you, and if he didn't, he might just lie and tell you something decidedly unhelpful – no, it was just better to accept what was offered. Albus and the two Gryffindors set out down to the dungeons. He gave the password to the suit of armor that guarded Severus' bedchamber's entrance way, and the three of them entered. There, lying on the large four poster bed, was a tiny figure in black.

"Severus!" cried the Headmaster happily, momentarily forgetting to use the boy's new name. "How did you get in here?"

The child didn't even bother sitting up, he just rolled on his stomach and rubbed his face against the velvet duvet cover.

Albus and the boys looked around the room for signs of how Severus might have gotten in, or perhaps who had put him there. Harry noticed some food laid out on a low table and some toys sitting on a footstool. "Headmaster, Professor Snape couldn't have conjured these, right? Someone had to have put him in the room."

"Slytherins," stated Ron with certainty.

Dumbledore looked at the items Harry was pointing to. "I am sure you are correct Ronald. They no doubt thought this would be one of the last places I would look for him. Very cunning on their part."

"More like 'devious', I'd say," supplied Ron. "Though I suppose starving a small child to death is still beyond some of them." He then helped himself to a biscuit.

Dumbledore picked Snape off the bed and carried him over to a chair by the fireplace. He sat him on his knee and looked at the boy carefully. "How could you know this was your home, child? It certainly was not your home at two years of age. Please, allow me to have a look, won't you?"

Severus said nothing, which Albus took as consent. He pointed his wand at the boy's forehead and was about to mutter 'Legilimens' when Severus eyes grew wide in terror and he threw himself backwards. Albus held on tightly while Severus frantically arched his back and twisted his body in an attempt to get away. 

"Sir, it's the wand that frightened him I think," offered Harry who was unsure if he wanted to get close enough to Severus to help Dumbledore subdue him.

Dumbledore immediately slipped the wand back up his sleeve. "No wand now, old chap. I can do this without one if you prefer." The boy stopped thrashing and sat still, though his heart was still thumping wildly.

Albus moved him closer to him and placed an old hand on the soft black hair. "Legilimens," he whispered.

Pictures of himself swirled in his vision of Snape's mind as it had before. Albus pushed a bit harder. The pictures faded and Albus found himself in a dark empty room. There were various passages in all direction and Albus decided to pursue the nearest one. He was met with images of a scowling father leering down at his small child in the corner of his cot. Then a picture of two figures arguing. It was too dim to see their faces, but Albus knew it was Severus' parents. In the next picture the baby was outside, shivering without a cloak, being hurried along faster then a small child could possibly walk by a tall black figure whose knees he could only see. Albus left this passageway and headed toward another, but it was firmly locked. He went towards a third corridor. This one seemed to be sealed with stone, yet wisps of smoke were coming from a crack near the bottom. Albus bent down and allowed the smoke to encircle him. He was immediately swept up with sensations of recognition. There were faces and places coming at him from Severus more recent past – his parents, a cold bedroom, Lucius, James Potter, Sirius, the shrieking shack,  a werewolf, a young Voldemort, a graveyard, Malfoy Manor, Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Minerva, a young Harry Potter, and so on. Within seconds Albus had seen nearly all important faces and glimpses of events in Snape's life. Albus severed the connection.

The Headmaster looked at the older boys who were watching him intently, as was little Severus.  "Well, it would seem that either I did a very poor job of the spell last month, or the spell itself was not a solid one. It would seem that many of Severus' memories are available to him in the form of feelings of recognition, with perhaps some sense of comfort or conversely, discomfort, along with it. He clearly has preferences based on his more recent past that he should not be able to. Of course his understanding of these feelings is limited by his immature thought patterns."

"Huh?" was all Ron could say, but Harry jumped in.

"So he recognizes us, likes or dislikes us, but doesn't know why."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Well, that explains the horse to the nose," added Harry sourly.

"I believe it is time for dinner in the great Hall. Perhaps I should bring Sebastian with me today. Just to inform the Slytherins that their little joke was all for naught." With that Dumbledore got up and carried Severus to the door. Severus squirmed down and ran back into the room and climbed onto the bed. Albus made to retrieve him but Severus clung tightly. Dropping his wand out of the edge of his sleeve, Dumbledore muttered a charm, which reduced the cover into a small square, the size of a handkerchief. Severus took hold of it and then quietly followed Dumbledore up the many steps to the Great Hall, refusing all offers to be carried.

Once inside the doorway the Gryffindors left to go to their table. Dumbledore was on his way to the High Table when he realized that Severus had taken a small turn and was now staring at a horrified Draco Malfoy, just inches from the Slytherin table. Dumbledore went to retrieve him.

"I suppose Mr. Malfoy that Sebastian here is simply trying to thank you for all that lovely food and toys you left for him," the Headmaster smiled sweetly.

"I, I…don't know what you mean, Sir," stammered Draco.

"Oh I think you do Mr. Malfoy. I think you do. Come Sebastian, let the students eat." Dumbledore gave Severus a little push towards the high table.

But before he would move Severus gave Draco's plate a thorough stare. When that did not accomplish his objective, he reached out and pulled on it, depositing all of its contents into Draco's lap. Then with a satisfied smirk, he shuffled off to the High Table. Dumbledore following behind.


	4. Do You See What I See?

I must say I am quite flattered with all the kind comments towards this story, both left as reviews, or sent to me privately. Apparently I _thought_ I had turned the  'anonymous reviews not accepted' button off after posting the last chapter, but I did not (apparently I didn't click on "save changes"). I apologize again to those who tried to review but couldn't. Please give it one more try! I suppose I am more technologically challenged than I thought. A big thank you to Barbara Kennedy who pointed out that the reviews still weren't being accepted.

One more note. I am coming soon to the point where we will find out what happened to Severus' voice, as well as a few more revelations about Sev's childhood that will change the course of his future. If there's anything you would like to see little Snape do (I am thinking particularly of revenge, but I'll entertain all ideas) please pass them along now. He will not be staying small forever.

Chapter 4 – Do You See What I See?

Albus Dumbledore hurried through the Ministry's corridors as fast as possible. He had been in this infernal building for nearly sixteen hours now. From hearing to commission meeting to inquisition he ran, trying to either bear witness or at least lend support in the many activities of the day. "Who in their right mind had decided to try every single surviving Death Eater in a single day?" he wondered aloud to Arthur Weasley, and not for the first time.

Arthur just shook his head. "Albus, it's all for show. Everyone knows it. They have all been found to have been wearing the mark, and this time the 'Imperio Defense' has been ruled invalid. They just want to get this wrapped up and over with."

Dumbledore stopped short and peered at the younger man over his half-moon glasses. "Justice is not a play to be performed for the pleasure of the audience."

Arthur had the good grace to blush. "I didn't mean to say I agree with it Albus. But without the dementors guarding Azkaban, or the use of the Kiss anymore, it's not quite so bad."

Dumbledore shook his head. The vote of the Ministry last week had just barely defeated a ruling that would have reinstated the use of the veil. A return to the wizarding death penalty. Albus suppressed a shudder at the thought. "I am sorry Arthur, I know you don't support the miscarriage of justice. I just would have liked to see the magical world take a bit more time with wrapping up the war. Perhaps if we thought about how we got to this point, we would be less likely to find ourselves in this situation again. Tell me Arthur, have you ever wondered why, despite the ability to live twice as long as muggles, there are few of us who reach my age?"

Arthur shook his head. "I don't wonder Headmaster. I know why. We kill ourselves and each other. We are a jealous and intolerant lot. We think ourselves immortal, we do. I know Molly lays awake at night worrying about Fred and George blowing themselves up, or Charlie becoming the equivalent of a sausage for a Ridgeback. I won't even go into Bill working as a curse breaker."

Albus smiled. He could picture Molly staring at the ceiling and keeping poor Arthur awake at night, rambling on about all the things that could befall their beloved children.

And it was that thought containing the word 'children' that brought back to mind Severus, and the fact that he had been left in the care of Hermione Granger for the entire day. The usually caregivers, Minerva and Poppy, were all at the Ministry providing testimony, and Dobby was no longer a possible babysitter, ever since Severus discovered that Dobby was frightened by loud noises (Albus had found him shaking in a corner as Severus clanged every piece of metal together he could get his small hands on). Luckily Ms. Granger was remaining at the castle over the summer, in order to prepare for teaching the lower forms' potions classes in the fall, and therefore was available for such services. Still, Albus didn't feel comfortable leaving the boy in her care for such a long block of time. Whether he was more concerned for Ms. Granger's well being, or for Severus' he wasn't quite sure. She was a perfectly capable young woman, but she and Professor Snape had a very heated falling out with one another in her sixth year, one in which landed Ms. Granger in detention for the remainder of the term, and though they eventually had come to a truce, Albus wasn't sure all was forgiven.

"Arthur I am afraid I can remain here no longer. The only inquiry left concerns Artiste Dubois; and as I had no dealings with him, and his children attended Beauxbaton, I doubt I would be of any help or comfort. I am going to return to Hogwarts."

Arthur nodded. "Will you come and join Molly and me for supper sometime soon, now that the term is ended? You are welcome to bring that little fellow with you. You know how Molly loves the little ones."

"I will Arthur. Thank you." And with that Albus ran down the Ministry hall towards the exit floos.         

Once back at Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore coaxed the staircases into allowing him direct access to the corridor which led to his chambers, and then bound up the stairs far to quickly for a man his age. He passed through the main office, through his study and then into the guest room which had been converted into a nursery for his charge. It was empty.  Albus looked around carefully – something about the room was not right. He thought for a moment before realizing that near all the smaller items in the room – books, toys, glass vials and bowl, where in different places than they usually were kept. He thought it odd, but concern for Severus and Ms. Grangers' whereabouts pushed that particular concern into the back of his mind. He checked all the other rooms, and not finding them there returned to the main office. He was even more concerned to realize that Fawkes was not on his perch as well. 

He addressed the portraits, "Does anyone know where Ms. Granger and Sebastian may have gone?"

The portraits all yawned and stretched, for it was going on midnight now, and looked at him quizzically. All but one. It seemed that not sleeping was a Slytherin trait. "Do you know where they might be Phineas?"

"I assure you, I have better things to do then follow around an adolescent girl and her dubious charge."

Albus sighed, closed his eyes, and sent a message to Severus. "Where are you?"  He was met with pictures of vials of colored liquid being poured together. That was surprising because Albus had just seen Severus potions set in the nursery. Still, the scene Albus was viewing did not change.

The headmaster was growing both weary and worried. He decided to take a Slytherin tactic. "Well, I suppose I cannot expect former Headmasters to remain aware of the current goings on in the school. That is simply beyond their scope."

Most of the portraits looked a bit put out at his pronouncement but Phineas simply snorted. "If you wish to manipulate a Slytherin, you will have to do better than that."

Albus thought for a moment. "I will add a portrait of you in the Entrance Hall?" Phineas had been pushing for one for quite a while.

"We have an agreement then. You will find them in the library."

"The library? I should have guessed with Ms. Granger," Albus murmured to himself.

When he arrived at the library, Albus found himself wishing for young Mr. Creevey's camera. Severus was fast asleep on a blanket, with books carefully piled around him which prevented him from rolling anywhere. Fawkes was on a nearby shelf, watching Severus as carefully as a sentry guarding his gate. Ms. Granger meanwhile was surrounded by another pile of books and was scratching out notes furiously on a nearby parchment. She looked up and smiled at the approaching Headmaster.

"Good evening, Sir. How did it go at the Ministry?"

"It was simply horrible, although I suppose you could say it was inevitable." He crossed the room and bent over the sleeping boy. "So, we even dream about potions, do we?" He gave the child a gentle pat on the head and stood back up.

"I apologize for being so late. I hope Sebastian wasn't any trouble," Albus smiled warmly at the girl. "Why don't you get some sleep yourself? You have the entire summer to prepare for your classes Ms. Granger, school has only been out a week."

"I am not preparing my curriculum, Sir. I had a…well, an idea concerning Sebastian."

"What sort of idea, my dear?"

"Why he always stares at things the way he does."

"Please, go on." Albus' interest was certainly piqued. He had been pondering that very thought himself when not dealing with school or Ministry matters.

""I think he's trying to use magic. Today I saw him staring at Fawkes. When Fawkes flew to him he became very excited. He actually smiled."

Albus nodded, this was indeed a big development. There had been some definite smirks, but they had yet to see a real smile out of the boy. "Please continue Ms. Granger."

"Well, I thought I would try an experiment. Whenever I saw him staring at something, I whispered my own spell and had it come to him. He loved it. We went into the nursery and he tried to move nearly ever object he could think of. I'm convinced he thought he was doing magic."

Albus sat down on a chair directly across from his former Head Girl. "Your theory sounds plausible. Tell me what have you found that pertains in your research." He waved his hand to indicate the surrounding books.

"It seems that wandless magic is usually directed through an outstretched hand, which was the original idea behind the wand. Focusing what comes out of the fingers naturally. But there have been cases where the eyes were the main source of magical energy. It usually is indicative of great power."

Albus nodded. "Indeed. One of the most famous of wizards was known for emanating magic through the use of his eyes."

Hermione took in a deep breath. "Yes, Merlin."

Dumbledore nodded. "As you said, it is thought that this type of ability indicates tremendous power. I must say however, I never saw that type of power our Sebastian. He was average at charms and horrible in transfiguration. Professor McGonagall told me once that she spent an entire night trying to undo the damage he did to a hedgehog that he attempted to turn into a teapot. Of course on the other hand, he was brilliant in potions and quite adept in the Dark Arts as well. But neither of those require powerful magic. Intelligence of course, but only low levels of magic."

Hermione was confused. "What do you mean Sir that the Dark Arts doesn't require much magic? All those hexes are as complicated as charms."

"The Dark Arts are considered Dark, not so much  because they are bad or dangerous, but largely because they are created differently. Charms and simple spells result directly from internal magic. The magic comes only from the person releasing the spell. Dark spells, such as hexes and Unforgivables, are drawn from the magic in the air. This makes them far more unstable and unpredictable. They were created, usually as a potion, long ago, and then released by a powerful wizard or coven into the world to be drawn upon by those with the proper ability. I am not saying it is not an important magical skill, just a different one." At this point Albus paused and looked over at the sleeping child. "He had that skill. As well as the brilliance to excel at potions. But he could not perform more than the standard set of charms."

Hermione nodded her understanding of what the Headmaster had said, but she still wasn't quite satisfied. "But why then Sir, would Prof…I mean, Sebastian _think_ he could do magic with his eyes. At his age he should be able to only do an accidental charm or two if he could get his hand on a wand. Unless he were angry of course. But he wasn't angry at all. He just kept trying to move everything with his eyes."

"I don't know Ms. Granger. Perhaps he had a bit success once and never forgot it. Sebastian has always been persistent. Still, if you'd like to do a bit more research into the matter, I have no objection."

Hermione agreed and the two of them returned the books to the shelves with a few wand waves, and then Albus and Fawkes said their goodnight as they parted in the hallway.

Albus carried the sleeping boy back to his room and laid him in his cot. He placed his hand over the heart of the sleeping child and felt the steady beat below his wrinkled hands.  He spoke in a soft voice so as not to wake the boy. "I am glad you were not at the Ministry today, my boy. Seeing all those acquaintances of yours, offering testimony against them. It would have been one more nightmare to hold at bay."  The boy wriggled in his sleep, and turned onto his side. "I don't know if Ms. Granger is right or not, but there is something about you that I cannot place my finger on. Wouldn't care to tell us what it is, would you?"

The boy didn't even stir. Dumbledore chuckled. "Didn't think so. You always were a tight lipped one. Well, if anyone will get to the bottom of this it will be Ms. Granger. In the meantime, sweet dreams."

With a wave of his hand the wall sconce dimmed back into blackness and Dumbledore gently shut the door, leaving Fawkes to stand guard over the cot and trill a Phoenix lullaby.

Authors note: I apologize for the lack of Severus (at least an awake Severus) in this chapter. There was just too much background information I had to provide to be able to keep a good eye on him at the same time. There should be more of him next chapter. 


	5. The Experiment

Disclaimer – Apparently it is necessary for me to the repeat the obvious, so here goes. I am not JK Rowlings. If I was, the last five books of hers would have been titled "Severus Snape and Some Other People". That being said, I do not own any of these characters nor am I making any money off of this. I certainly do not mean any copyright infringement to Ms. Rowlings, Warner Brothers, Scholastic, Bloomsbury Press or anyone else at all. I am just trying to have a bit of fun.

Chapter 5 – The Experiment

From the safety of a protective magical field, Albus watched his charge once again destroy his nursery. Every item in the room was thrown or kicked or stomped on, even the two year old's beloved potions set. This was the sixth major temper tantrum the toddler had thrown in the last five days. Severus may have enjoyed Hermione Grangers' little game that one evening, but once he realized that he could not recreate the 'magic' he had used that night, he had become furious. And it seemed now to the bedraggled Headmaster that he was becoming more and more difficult to handle with each passing day.

Albus rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. What had he expected when he had turned his surly Potion's Master into a child? Some happy little cherubic infant who would laugh and play games? If so, than perhaps he really was a dotty old fool. He should have known Severus would be as difficult to deal with as a two year old as he was a forty year old. But still, the Headmaster knew in his heart that he had been holding out hope that dealing with the child with love and kindness would somehow change things. 

He watched for a few more minutes, until he saw Severus slump down against the wall, his heavy breathing and hollow eyes a sign that the worst was now past. Albus dropped the shield and walked over to the child, then he too slid down the wall so that he was sitting next to the boy. He leaned toward him and wiped his tear stained face with a handkerchief. If it wasn't for the tears no one would ever have known that Severus had been crying, for he hadn't made a sound. Indeed, he still hadn't made a sound at all other than a few gurgles or growls deep in his throat from time to time.

"Come Severus, let's get things cleaned up in here and we'll go see Minerva." That usually got the boy out of his morose. He was fascinated by the Gryffindor Head of House's ability to turn herself into a cat and then back again. And although she always acted put upon when asked to do so, Albus was pretty sure that she enjoyed being the only one who could consistently coax even the tiniest smile from the boy. They had argued constantly as colleagues, of course, but the Headmaster knew his Deputy Headmistress had a soft spot for Severus – at all his varying ages. It was for that reason that he intended to ask Minerva to join he and Severus for the week at his country home. He hoped that getting the child away from Hogwarts, and all the memories that partial recognition were stirring up, would calm the boy. He also greatly enjoyed Minerva's presence, and although they had decided long ago that continuing their one time romance was not practical in their current situation, he still felt more relaxed in her presence than he did with anyone else. With her he did not have to be all wise and all knowing all the time. He was a man like all others, and she knew and respected that.

Albus put Severus in a large chair in the main office, under the watchful gaze of both Fawkes and Phineas Nigellus, whom despite constant criticisms of both Severus' behavior and Albus' child rearing practices, had seemingly grown quite fond of the boy. Albus then returned to the nursery to clean things up. It was best to perform that type of magic outside of the child's sight. Glares of venom and jealousy aside, the old wizard feared it would only instigate another tantrum. Albus had just gotten the toy soldiers to march smartly – the ones that were not broken anyhow – back into their box, when he heard a bell tone which indicated a visitor. The Headmaster arrived back in the main office just in time to welcome Professor McGonagall through the door.

The Deputy Headmistress took one look at the toddler sitting in the oversized chair with his red rimmed eyes and huffed heartily. "Threw another tantrum, did he?"

The Headmaster sighed and gave a small nod of affirmation.

"If you took away that potion's set of his every time he displayed that sort of behavior, the tantrums would cease."

Something that sounded suspiciously like "hear, hear" came from the direction of the former Slytherin Headmaster's portrait. Meanwhile Severus was shooting death glares at Professor McGonagall. Albus decided the best thing to do would be to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Now that all school business has been concluded, I am going to take Sebastian with me to my yearly retreat at my country home. I was hoping you would join us for the week, my dear." He allowed his eyes to twinkle as he said this. He knew that always disarmed her.

"Come now Albus, what would people think?"

"They would think that you are an old friend and my houseguest. Besides, Sebastian will be there, and I daresay we will have many visitors."

At this Minerva turned to look at Severus who seemed to be watching for an answer. No one was ever sure exactly how much he understood. "Very well, if the lad can control his temper, I think I should enjoy a stay with you Albus."

With that Severus slid off the chair and padded back into the nursery. He arrived moments later with his porcelain bowl and headed towards the door. Albus and Minerva suppressed their mirth – the boy did not take well to being laughed at. He walked after Severus who was now pulling at the door in vain, and gently put a hand on the back of his neck. "We will be leaving in the morning, Sebastian."

Perhaps is was the placement of his hand, or the fact that Severus had recently been crying and therefore had his defenses down, or perhaps it was a pulse of magic that was randomly passing through the castle as they were wont to sometimes do, but whatever the reason, Albus Dumbledore felt in his hand the most powerful surge of energy that he had ever felt emanating from another witch or wizard. The feeling was almost like a shock of electricity (which the Headmaster had once been the unfortunate recipient of after a demonstration of muggle technology by Arthur Weasley) passing from the back of Severus' neck, just behind his ears, into Albus' fingertips. Severus obviously felt it too, because he scrunched up his shoulders and threw his head back trying to dislodge the Headmaster's hand. After a moment Albus was forced to let go when the magic, which had acted like a magnet, suddenly dissipated and abruptly released him. 

"Albus, what's wrong?" Minerva could see the look of fear in the child's eyes as well as the surprise on the Headmaster's face.  

"I don't know, exactly. But there was a surge of magic that came from his neck. Next moment it was gone, but I felt it quite clearly and so did he." Albus turned back to the toddler who had recovered himself, and was now standing with his arms folded, glaring at his caretaker. Albus reached out towards Severus but the child took a quick step back, just out of the Headmaster's reach. He was obviously a bit wary of allowing the older wizard to touch him again. Albus took out his little pouch of sweets from his deep robe pockets and offered it to the boy. Severus hesitated briefly, but then reached in and helped himself to an orange and white swirled sweet and popped it into his mouth. While he sucked on the sugary concoction he allowed Albus to turn him about and gently bend his neck forward.

Minerva rolled her eyes at this. The grown Slytherin Head of House disliked sweets nearly as much as he disliked Gryffindors. Yet give Albus a mere month and a half with the child and he had given him a sweet tooth. Worse, he was clearly bribing the boy's compliance with sugar, the way one might a dog with a treat. Still, her curiosity was such that she anxiously awaited whatever it was the old wizard might find.

Albus slowly ran an aged finger across the back of Severus' neck. From the base of one ear to the other and back again. He repeated the motion a few more times and then stood back up, patting the child on the head and offering him another sweet.

"There is definitely something there Minerva. It is quite faint now but I can feel it. I will have to ask Ms. Granger to help me with this; she is very keen on solving the puzzle that our young Sebastian has provided us with. But that's for later. Let's have a cup of tea and you can tell me what it was you came to see me about. Minerva was momentarily startled, she had forgotten that she had come to his office for any reason at all. The Headmaster had a way of doing that to people.

"I just wanted to tell you that I was going to take a bit of a holiday next week. But I think I would prefer to be your...houseguest. And no tea for me, thank you. If we are going to be leaving in the morning I have business that needs seeing to." With that the Deputy Headmistress walked briskly out of the office, leaving a smiling Albus and a Severus, with a mouth full of sweets, behind.

*****

Albus Dumbledore sat in his favorite chair near the fire in his sitting room. He had turned the chair away from the fireplace, and faced it instead towards the center of the room so that he could watch the constant comings and goings of his numerous guests. Not for the first time did he wonder why he had ever thought this might be a peaceful week, a bit of respite from the usual hustle and bustle as well as constant decisions of his everyday life. Instead the hustle and bustle had simply followed him here. Indeed, it could even have been said to have increased threefold. 

Today alone had seen visits from Harry Potter and the youngest Mr. Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Molly and Arthur Weasley, Poppy Pomfrey and Remus Lupin. At one point it had seemed that half the Order had been there. And while only Remus Lupin currently remained, Hermione Granger was expected at any moment.  If you added in the presence of Minerva, Fawkes, the house elves, and Sebastian, the house took on the feeling of being a Muggle London Tube Station at rush hour.

Still, it was quite a bit nicer than his offices at Hogwarts. As majestic as they were, nothing could compare to the warm country patterns that decorated his small country home. Or the large picture windows that looked over a wildflower bespectacled field that led off to violet hills in the distance. The south facing garden, which was tended all year by a loyal house elf, was perhaps the most perfect spot on the earth, thought Albus many a time. And the little pond down the path – now carefully warded after a near disaster with Severus and an evasive frog – was his crowning jewel. Yes, if he could only find a moment alone to partake of his sanctuary, it would indeed be perfect.

It was in the middle of this thought that Remus Lupin entered with Hermione Granger in tow. Severus, who had been playing with his shape fitter cube (one of the few toys that intrigued him), dived quickly behind Albus' chair. Severus' reaction to Lupin's visits these past several days had surprised Albus. At first the Headmaster was sure Severus would either ignore him or sneer at him, as he did others for whom he had shown contempt in his adult form. But instead Severus had demonstrated genuine fear of the easy going man. It hurt Albus to realize that the prank played on the 15 year old Severus had left such an indelible mark that he had spent the remaining years in terror of Remus. Hiding it of course, behind a veil of contempt. Albus wasn't sure whom he felt sorrier for – the gentle werewolf who was forced to bear the stigma of his unwelcome animal nature, or Severus, who had allowed that fear to poison any possible relationship he could have had with his thoughtful classmate.

"Hello Professor," greeted Hermione cheerfully. "And hello to you too, Sebastian," she added, craning her neck to get a glimpse of the child behind Albus' chair.

Severus did not make a sound, nor even peer out the tiniest bit, but Albus could hear through the cushions that separated them, that his deep ragged breathes had eased up a little. 

"Welcome Miss Granger. Sebastian missed you, as did I. The note I left you before departing concerning Sebastian's…hmmm….what shall we term it, perhaps magical aura? Did you have a chance to look into it?"

Hermione nodded. "I did Headmaster. I found a few references to such a thing. I had a bit of a time convincing Madam Pince to allow me to bring the books with me, but as it is _your_ house, she finally agreed. Still, I am not sure if anything in them is actually relevant here. I should like to conduct some experiments with Sebastian if that is alright.

Albus gave a cheery affirmation, but inwardly he groaned. It had taken a full three days here, with a combination of Albus' geniality and Minerva's no nonsense approach, to put an end to the tantrums. Today was the first day Severus was acting content. He had even reduced the amount of objects he stared at to fewer than a dozen or so. All he didn't need were a few experiments, like the one Ms. Granger conducted while sitting for Severus last week, to set the boy off again.

He offered both Remus and Hermione some tea, but they politely refused, and then Lupin took his leave so as not to distract the child. Once he was gone Severus easily came out from behind the chair, but it was clear he was suspicious that something was up. Hermione set out several items of magical symbolism within a circle which she laid down, made of a fine rope. There was a gold pentagram representing magical power, a large jewel bedecked goblet denoting prosperity, a silver hand with a jade eye embedded in it which was an amulet of protection and good health, a pair of small silver bells which was indicative of fertility and a happy home, and finally a design made up of seven diamante stars that represented peace.

"I thought you distrusted Divination, Ms. Granger?" Albus had scene such a circle before. It was often used to 'predict' the future path of a child on his first birthday. The child was placed in the center of the circle, and the item he first reached for was thought to be his most likely strength in life. Of course even the most besotted parents thought it not much more than a birthday game, passed down as a wizarding tradition from a simpler time, and having little true foresight.

"Actually Headmaster, the Life Circle, was never meant to be conducted as it is today. In earlier times it was performed a year _after a child had first demonstrated his ability to do magic. Also, the incantation people use today at a child's first birthday is a terrible bastardization of the real spell. Finally, the spell must be chanted by both a witch and a wizard – not a randomly chosen party guest."_

"I am impressed Ms. Granger. And you have the spell now?"

She did. And as Albus read the parchment he realized that he recognized some pieces of the proper incantation from long ago, at one of his brother's Life Circle. His parents had been unusual people, even for witches and wizards, but in the end they had usually known exactly what they were doing. He smiled at that thought, and then nodded at Ms. Granger to begin. 

Fortunately for Hermione, Severus was so fascinated by the objects she had put out that she had no problem convincing him to step inside the circle. In fact the most difficult part was keeping the toddler from touching all the items before the incantation was said. Albus took care of this little dilemma with a limiting spell that safely cocooned Severus within the circle, though the child was clearly not pleased. The two adults touched their wands carefully to the rope and at Hermione's cue, simultaneously spoke the incantation. Then Albus quickly lifted the limiting spell on Severus, and they waited.

For a moment the dark haired boy did not realize he was once again free to touch. But when he waved an angry hand in the Headmaster's direction, and realized he could extend it as far as he wished, his eyes quickly darted around him. He was without question searching for a particular object, and that object in turn was searching for him. By now the golden pentagram was spinning furiously in its place, nearly levitating itself with its vibrations. Severus finally twisted his small body around to see it and made a grab for it. The object gave off a whirring sound, like a metal top when it spins, and then magically changed shape, each of its points thinning out and wrapping itself around Severus' small hand. Severus cocked his head to the side and watched it, fascinated. There was no fear whatsoever in his eyes. And then the former pentagram suddenly vanished - seeming to the astonished onlookers to have melted into the child's hand.

For a moment no one said anything. Then in a small voice Hermione whispered "I hope Mrs. Weasley didn't want her pentagram back."

The small joke broke the tension in the air and Dumbledore laughed heartily. "Quite a bit more interesting than the party game, wasn't it?" His eyes twinkled brightly. Then he looked over at Severus. "I suppose it is quite clear that the child's foremost ability is that of power. But are you sure Ms. Granger that the subject must have demonstrated magical ability for at least a year before the Circle will work?"

"Yes Sir, quite sure."

"Hmmm... we have a bit more experimenting to do then, I suppose."

Hermione smiled at this. Albus knew she loved a good challenge and that certainly was what Severus was choosing to be.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Remus put his head around the doorframe and Albus beckoned him in. "So how did it go?" he asked, smiling at Sebastian.

Albus took a step towards the child, ready if necessary to hold him safely in his arms if Severus began to panic.

This time however Severus let out a low guttural growl from deep within his throat. He then began to crawl slowly towards Remus, with his chin tilted upward and his head slightly cocked to the side. His small dark eyes were transfixed on the man a dozen feet away, and his tiny nostrils were flaring. He looked for all the world like a wolf ready to pounce. Remus gulped and took a few steps backwards, trying to keep a smile on his face despite the obvious sense of nervousness he was feeling.

Albus and Hermione exchanged glances. It was quite comical really, thought Albus. A grown werewolf backing away from a small boy like that. It was also an interesting turn of events, to say the least. While Albus contemplated this, he saw that Hermione had obviously decided to come to Lupin's rescue. She walked over to where the small child rested on his knees and stood over him. "It's not nice to growl at people," she remonstrated in her most adult voice.

Severus responded by baring his teeth at her.

She only grinned back at him. "Are you pretending to be a doggie?"

Apparently that little insult was too much for Severus to bear, for he promptly closed his mouth, returned to his feet, and retreated to the chair that Albus had been sitting in earlier. He climbed upon it and then gave Hermione his usual withering glare.

Hermione chuckled and looked over at Remus who had by now recovered himself and was looking a bit sheepish to have been bested by a two year old. "I thought that might work," she said.

"You should have been a Slytherin, my dear," smiled Albus.

Severus' venom glare was now turned upon the Headmaster.

"I'll be back in a few days Headmaster. There another experiment I want to try. Although this one is best conducted while he sleeps."

The old wizard nodded and bid a good evening to his guests. He walked to his chair, and bending down lifted up his young charge who still weighed next to nothing despite the house elves best attempts to fatten him up. "You need a few more sweets, that will do the trick. Perhaps tomorrow I will introduce you to the joys of chocolate frogs. Much tastier than real ones, and my picture in on one of the cards," Albus murmured cheerily into the boy's ear.

The Headmaster carried him up the small back stairway from the sitting room to the bed chamber corridor. He helped the boy to wash up and changed him into a nightshirt, then he put him gently into his cot, covering him with the velvet duvet cover taken from his Slytherin bedchamber – reenlarged of course to the proper size for a one so young. Then he touched his fingers to the boy's forehead and whispered "Somnus". Severus rewarded him with the tiniest of grins before his eyes drifted closed. 

Authors note:

"Somnus" is Latin for "sleep". 

Another thank you to everyone who has reviewed, especially those people have reviewed repeatedly (I am very grateful!). I really appreciate your kind words. Knowing someone is reading the story makes it more fun to write and encourages me to get the chapters out faster. As it is I am working on it 2-3 hours a day so I doubt I could get any quicker in posting, put I know it puts a big smile on my face when my mail button pops on screen and it's a review.

As for little Severus, I will try to keep him young for a few more chapters, but for my story to work he will have to grow back up at some point. Hopefully it will be worth it for him (and for the readers). Any last requests for little Severus activities should be sent in now, as I am trying to get a solid outline down. Thanks!

-Hawaii


	6. Excalibur Part 1

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe on it.  

Chapter 6 – Excalibur (part 1)

  
  


**_Merlin_**_:  Nay, Arthur, have no fear._

_ A mightier power than mine had led thy feet_

_There where I found thy sleeping by the lake:_

_For whilst I watched a star fell in the sky,_

_And, from the vacant space of Heaven, there came_

_A voice that cried "Awake! The hour hath struck:_

_Now guide him, Merlin, to that caverned home _

_Where dwells the sacred sword Excalibur." _

"King Arthur, A Drama and a Prologue in Four Acts" by J. Comyns Carr

The child lay sleeping on the middle of a small wooden table that had been magically cushioned for his comfort. The small velvet duvet lay underneath him. He was dressed in a white cotton tunic as instructed by Hermione, and had been bathed in water from an underground spring. Just prior to putting him to sleep with the Somnus spell, Albus had given the boy the potion Hermione had owled him. All they were doing now is waiting for it to take effect.

It had been two days since Hermione's last experiment, and this time Albus was impatient to get started. Ever since the child's experience with the pentagram, Severus had been growing bolder. It was as if the talisman had reminded him that he was not so small and weak as he may have thought. Not that this was a wholly bad thing, mused Albus, but it had led to several dangerous incidents as Severus did not have the reasoning ability to go along side his new found desire to assert his prowess. And Albus feared that if they didn't soon find out exactly what it was that was that was inhibiting both the boy's ability to speak and his magical powers, he would soon have an uncontrollable child on his hands. That uncontrollable child would of course eventually grow to be an angry adult, and the entire purpose of returning him to childhood would all be for naught.

"It has been exactly two hours now." Poppy Pomfrey snapped her pocket watch closed. She had been asked to assist Albus and Hermione, as had Minerva, because this experiment benefited from as many thoughtful opinions as possible.

Albus nodded to Hermione who touched her wand to Severus and spoke the incantation. The others repeated her actions and words exactly. A slight humming sound filled the room. It was clearly emanating from the boy's body. As per Hermione's instruction, the invited guests each took a turn running their wands carefully along Severus' small frame, just inches above his body. When the last of them finished, Albus gently turned the toddler onto his stomach and they once again repeated the exercise. Once complete, the child was levitated into his cot, and the foursome retired to Albus' sitting room.

Professor McGonagall was the first to speak. "It was not very strong, but I did feel the energy pulsing from the back of his neck, just as you said Albus. There was also a faint aura of magic that permeated his entire body, but that is normal under this spell, is it not?"

Poppy answered her. "Yes, if he were older. Although some children have developed magical auras at his age, it is still quite unusual. By the way, I could feel the energy accumulating too, particularly behind his left ear."

"Did anyone feel anything coming from the area by his eyes?" Albus queried.

The two older women shook their heads. "Nothing at all Albus," added Minerva.

Albus looked to Ms. Granger who up until that point hadn't said a word. "Professors, I noticed too the magic in his neck as well as the faint aura about him. But don't you think it is unusual that there was absolutely no aura at all from his eyes? The rest of his body gave off something. Why not his eyes?"

"Very good Ms. Granger" Albus smiled. "I had been wondering about that myself."

Just then a house elf arrived. "Mister Harry Potter, Sir and Misses," he said bowing low and then ushering in the Boy-Who-Defeated-Evil.

"Welcome Harry, we were just discussing Sebastian."

Harry pulled up a chair and Hermione related the night's events to him. Harry nodded thoughtfully and then turned to the Headmaster. "Sir, I came tonight because Hermione told me what you were doing. I had a thought about how you might find out something more. I mean I know you and Professor Snape, I mean Sebastian," Harry blushed at his slip of the tongue. How was he ever going to get through Auror School which began next month, if he couldn't keep a secret any better than Hagrid? He swallowed and plunged on, "are pretty good with Legilimency and Occlumency, and so I had an idea."

"Sebastian hasn't been very trusting in opening his mind to me" the older wizard interrupted. "And I am afraid to push him, Harry. That's part of the reason Hermione here is looking for other ways to see what lies inside the boy."

"I know, Sir. But do you remember when Voldemort reached inside my mind?" Harry pressed on undeterred.

The old wizard chuckled. "I seem to recall something like that."

Harry blushed again. It had been a silly way to state it. "Yes, of course. Well anyway, he did it through dreams. At first I thought I was dreaming so I didn't question it. I didn't think to fight it. And he let me feel his emotions too. So in a way I almost felt like him, could feel _his desires, __his wants."_

Albus nodded thoughtfully. "I see what you are getting at my boy. It is certainly worth a try." He rose from his chair and motioned the others to join him. They once again climbed the steps to the corridor that led to Severus' guest room. This time he did not return the boy to the table, but rather he lifted him into his arms and sat down in a chair in the corner of the room. Placing his wand at the sleeping child's temple he whispered "Legilimens". The old wizard then leaned back in the chair and closed his own eyes as the others looked on.

Albus was initially met with a vision of the boy chasing chocolate frogs through the pond near the country house. Even in his dreams Severus was having no luck catching the things. "No, no, old chap, this time we are going to see things from my perspective." With that the Headmaster concentrated on a picture of the locked door he had seen in the boy's mind only a few days after Severus' return to childhood. Albus sent out a feeling of intense desire to enter the room. He waited a bit, and when nothing happened, he sent out another call. "Join me Severus, we can go through the door together." A short wait again and then a strange sensation, like someone entering his body, filled the old wizard. Albus once again concentrated on his desire to enter the room. He knew Severus must be feeling it now too. There was a tingle of hesitation and uncertainty that ran through him, but Albus countered that with reassurance. A moment later, the door clicked open.

Albus, with Severus within him, walked into the room. As soon as they passed the doorframe the small boy emerged from Albus and stood next to him. They both looked cautiously around. The room was brightly lit, as if sunshine had permeated all corners of the room, yet there were no discernible windows. The walls, ceiling and the floor where bright white and made perhaps of marble. Indeed, everything shone like a newly painted room in a king's palace. Not that there wasn't any color. In the center of the room, swirling like an incandescent smoke tornado, were the most glorious colors Albus had ever seen. Crimson swirled with a deep cyan, azure with indigo, teal overlapped with yellow and burst forth as bright green, royal blue and magenta wove in and out of each other, and of course silver and deep forest green appeared and disappeared through the constant swirling motion that made Albus' head hurt to stare too long. Severus, on the other hand, now stood transfixed. It was as if all his potion's dreams of color mixing had suddenly come true. He was smiling ear to ear, and he emanated intense feelings of desire. A Weasley twin in Zonko's storeroom could not have been more delighted. 

Albus smiled down at the boy. "Go ahead and touch, child. It is after all your door and your room. Everything contained within is yours to behold." He gave the boy a small push forward. 

Severus walked slowly to the colorful whirlwind. When he reached the outer edge he tentatively lifted his small hand and reached forward with a single finger. At the moment he made contact with the impermeable mass of colors, they immediately dissipated, so surprising the toddler that he fell backward and landed with a thud. Albus walked quickly to the boy and lifted him back up to his feet. Then they both took a good look at what the cloud of color had been obscuring - a large silver staff. Albus steadied the boy with a hand to his shoulder as they made their way around the object. It was over a meter in height and about a small fist in diameter. It sparkled in the lucent air as if it were diamond encrusted. But instead of gems, it was the refraction of the light on the numerous designs cut into the length of the staff that gave it that quality. The designs were magical symbols that Albus recognized, the most prominent among them, the pentagram.

Albus looked it over carefully for several minutes and then slowly he reached out to the large rod. He wrapped a carefully fist around the top and then slid his aged hand gently down a short way. He felt the tingle of magic permeate his body. Aware that the small child was watching him closely he turned his head and gave a reassuring smile. Then he looked back at the object and gave a firm tug. It did not move. He tried again, a bit harder, but it still wouldn't budge. The next time he used all his strength, but he already knew it would not work. The item was magically embedded, and he did not posses whatever it was that was necessary to release it.

He turned to the child. "Why don't you give it a try? It is after all in _your_ mind, not mine."

Severus' dark eyes surveyed the silver staff. It was so shiny Albus could even make out the reflection of Severus' dark hair in the metal from where he stood. The child hesitated for a few moments, and then seeming to come to a decision, gave it a tug. Nothing happened. The boy gave a bit of a shrug and then turned his dark eyes on his Headmaster. The message he sent to Albus was quite clear "I want to go back to the pond."

So Albus nodded and complied. With thoughts of his beloved pond and chocolate frogs, he sent the child back to his dream and then returned himself to the bedchamber where his guests stood waiting.

Upon opening his eyes and seeing the expectant looks on the faces of his guests, Albus whispered "I believe I have found our problem."

 *****

Albus stood in the kitchen of his country home happily frying up eggs and rashers while a house elf stood glaring at him nearby. It was so seldom he got to cook, and angry house elf or not, he wasn't going to let this opportunity go by. Harry, Ms. Granger, and Poppy had stayed overnight last evening, their discussion about the importance of the silver staff keeping them awake to the wee hours of the morning. Now the Headmaster was basking in the pleasure of having some new candidates to try out his cooking skills on. After a few more moments the house elf couldn't bear to watch any longer and headed out to the garden.

Severus sat on a nearby countertop, watching the Headmaster thoughtfully. His experience with colors last night seemed to have had a positive affect on his fashion preferences, for this morning he had allowed Albus to charm his favorite cotton shirt into some other color than black or white. Not that lime green was anywhere near the top of the list of Albus' favorite shades of green, but overall it was an improvement – and that's what mattered.

Albus slid his culinary masterpiece onto a serving platter and carried it to the table where everyone else sat, still arguing about the symbolism of last night. All except for Ms. Granger, who was in Albus' small study with one Madame Pince's tomes, researching the meanings of all the staff's symbols that Albus was able to recount for her.

"Eat, my children, eat. It is better to disagree on a full stomach." Albus slid into his own chair and helped himself to a large serving of eggs.

Harry was the one speaking at the moment, and his new found status as a war hero certainly was adding to his ability to hold court. All eyes where focused on him as he reasserted his theory that the staff held some sort of hidden message from Severus's subconscious, to his conscious self. Albus thought that perhaps Harry had been a bit too influenced by the Muggle psychology books he had been poring over at Hermione's request these past few weeks.

Minerva shook her head, "Hogwash, I doubt very much that he created anything symbolic like that. If he had been responsible for it, it would have been a dagger. Or perhaps a cauldron. But certainly not a staff."

"I agree," offered Madam Pomphrey. "Someone put that thing there. What purpose it serves I can't say, but traditionally the staff has symbolized strength. Even leadership. Not that…Sebastian…ever demonstrated much of that – unless leadership entails mixing up dark potions in the third floor boy's lavatory."

Minerva and Albus both chuckled. They had forgotten about young Severus' proclivity for trying out his concoctions as far away from prying eyes as possible. Madam Pomfrey, who had to heal the results of many of these attempts, apparently had not.

Albus had been about to add his own thoughts to the subject when Minerva let out a gasp. "Severus," she shouted, forgetting in her moment of panic to use his new name. All eyes turned to the child who was busy pouring every item on the counter top into the frying pan that Albus had so recently been cooking with. Worse, the boy had somehow managed to reignite the flame and the contents of the pan were now smoking. Unfortunately, Minerva's shout had startled the boy and he knocked into the flying pan, upending it onto himself. His face contorted in pain and he opened his mouth, yet no sound came out other than a gurgle.

A moment later four wands were out and the frying pan, along with its contents, magically eliminated. Albus grabbed the boy and set him down on a kitchen chair while Poppy kneeled in front of the child. Tears coursed down his face as Albus lifted his cotton shirt to expose the growing red patch of skin on his chest. Poppy gave Albus a look of reassurance. "Just a superficial burn, I can heal that with a simple spell."

She pointed her wand directly at Severus's chest and the boy immediately threw his body into the back of the chair, pulling himself into a ball as small as possible. Most interesting to all the observers was the fact that the child had placed both his hands in a protective covering position over the area just below the back of his left ear.

Albus tried to move Severus' hands, but he wouldn't budge.

"Don't bother, Headmaster. I can heal him just as well like this." Poppy murmured her incantation and then stood back up, pocketing her wand. 

At that moment Hermione Granger came through the kitchen door with a big smile on her face. "I think I have found something," she beamed.

"I think I may have found something too," whispered the old wizard, looking down at his still cowering charge.

While Harry and Poppy related the morning's events to Hermione, Albus and Minerva spent the next quarter of an hour calming the child. Once they had succeeded in getting him out of the chair and over to a safe spot by a low set of window cupboards, Albus laid out a spread of herbs, spices and oils as well as a few pots and pans. The boy immediately went back to mixing his creations, and Albus enchanted all the jars to refill and the pots to magically empty every few minutes.

Albus looked on beaming. "Perhaps he will be a chef when he grows up."

"Or perhaps he will be a _Potions Master_," Minerva responded dryly, rolling her eyes as she returned to the table where Hermione had laid our several pieces of parchment covered with magical symbols of all sorts.

Albus gave his little alchemist a pat on the head and joined them at the table. Hermione directed their attention to the first parchment which explained the meaning of each symbol Albus had noted on it. The second parchment, she continued, listed in order of size and numbers of repetition, the symbols the staff contained as best remembered, and their arithmatic counterpart. The third parchment placed the symbols into an order that could possibly make sense. Although Albus did not remember the exact placement of every symbol, she had used the symbols numerical values, as well as some arithmatic calculations to come up with an equation that would have been likely. She went on to note the difference between the symbols likely placement and the one that Albus had partially remembered.

Albus could tell from the look of astonishment on Harry's face that he had never really appreciated quite how brilliant his companion was. Minerva and Poppy, with their self-satisfied smirks, obviously had.

"Well my dear, are you able to give us what I believe Muggles refer to as 'the bottom line'?" the Headmaster asked brightly. 

"Yes, I think I can. What this says, if everything I did was correct, is that the staff is the main source of Sebastian's magical energy. It is, as many magical items are, just a representation of course. But if that representation can be manipulated, then the actual magic it stands in for can be manipulated as well. The markings on the staff, they are all representative of magical attributes. Nearly all of them are in some way connected to strength or power. But the markings are in a state of distress – they are chaotically placed. I believe they were once forming coherent patterns, but that over the years they have shifted. I am not sure why, although I suspect it is because the staff hasn't been used. From how you described it Headmaster, I would say his magic is 'stuck'." Her eyes darted about. It was obvious she wasn't really used to going out on a limb with theories like this. She had always preferred to present information only after she was certain she was correct. Albus gave her a reassuring smile.

"Excellent child, simply excellent. If everything you say is correct, then we will have our hands full in the coming days trying to find a way to release this staff, and hence, his magic."

It was Harry's turn to speak. "He could do magic already though, how is that possible with his magic stuck like that?"

Poppy answered before anyone else could. "I would imagine that either not all of his magic was concentrated in that one area – for instance we know that Divination is centered in another part of the brain than Apparition – or that perhaps however his magic got trapped, some of it managed to escape."

"Or," began Professor McGonagall "he managed to find a way to compensate. The way a blind person focuses more on their sense of sound. Perhaps that is why he was drawn to Potions?"

Albus could see that Harry was struggling with another question. "Yes, Harry?"

"How could someone's magic get "stuck" like that. Did something happen to him?"

Albus' face took on a dark and forbidding frown. "I think it would be fair to say that 'someone' happened to him."

All eyes at the table turned to the old wizard, who was looking quite tall and powerful at the moment. "I believe Sebastian should be left alone at the moment. We will continue this tomorrow. And I am pretty certain I now know where to begin."  

Authors note: This is a pretty long chapter, so I thought I would send out half of it today so that you won't have to wait too long in between installments. Hopefully anything I write after I post this won't make me wish I could go back and change something in the first half. J

Let me know if anyone is not following the storyline. I am hoping my 'explanation' of Severus' magical limitations is making sense. There is a bit more explanation to come in the second half of the chapter, so if anyone is confused now, I'd really like to know so I can patch it up in the second part. After this chapter concludes, the story should pick up pace again with less informational details. Well, that's the plan anyway.

**A quick question for those readers who also post a lot at fanfiction.net (and I have read a lot of your great Snape stuff) – I chose both Snape and Dumbledore as my character perimeters for searching within Harry Potter. But while the story always shows up if I chose Albus, if I chose Snape alone, sometimes I can't find my story anywhere. It usually does show up a few days after posting, but by then it is story number 60 something or so. Should I remove Albus as a search character? I want new readers to be able to come across this story but I also want those who are reading already to be able to find it too? Any suggestions?**

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

Zippy zany – the kitchen scene was for you.

-Hawaii


	7. Excalibur Part 2

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe on it.  

Chapter 7 – Excalibur (part 2)

Albus and Severus walked along the edge of the pond. While it was still early in the day, the summer sun had been long awake and the air was both warm and sweet.  There were very few sounds to disturb the exquisite peace except for that of an occasional jumping fish splash or croaking frog. Minerva sat on a nearby large boulder, fiddling with the creases of her robes and trying to give Albus some time to talk with the child. The Headmaster had tried to convince her to be part of this conversation with Severus, but she had adamantly refused him, insisting that Albus was the only one whom Severus now trusted completely. Albus knew she was wrong – Severus trusted no one completely. Yet he was pretty sure that the boy's faith in the Deputy Headmistress was at least as solid as the boy's faith in him. And perhaps even less misplaced. He wondered for the umpteenth time that day if he really should be doing this. Was it really wise to be trying to release the magic that had been stored for almost forty years in a locked room? Should he be stirring up old, and painful memories in the boy? What effect would this have on the child? What was wrong with the way the boy was now anyway? He had become a respected Potions Master, wasn't that good enough? No, the truth was that it was not good enough. Severus had been meant to be more, and limiting his life a second time around was not fair to him.

Not that it would be easy to remove such a spell. If Severus was indeed as powerful as the symbols indicated, than it must have taken a fairly powerful wizard a lot of trouble to bind that magic to a staff and lock it away. Yes, Severus had been young and his magic not developed at the time, but to make sure the magic stayed bound like that throughout his entire life was no small feat. 

Albus sat down on a small rock and tried to pull the boy into his lap, but the child wiggled away and sat instead on the ground next to him. He had found a small stick earlier and immediately began digging in the soft dirt with it. A moment later he triumphantly pulled out a worm and shoved it into the pocket of his trousers. Albus resisted making a face, and the boy continued his hunt for 'potion ingredients'.

Albus thought some more. He had known Severus' father – Augustus Snape. Indeed he had taught him at one time. He had been as surly as a teen as Severus was as an adult. But he wasn't nearly as bright as his only heir, and he was a cruel one to boot. Albus had caught him one evening torturing the mice he kept in his classroom for Transfiguration assignments. Augustus had been entertaining a group of Slytherins with his skill at hexes. After graduation the boy went into business with some of his more shady classmates. But few of the businesses worked out, and when a ministry audit of his last business was conducted, Augustus lost the remainder of the family fortune in fines. After that Albus had heard little about him until his infamous death during a Death Eater attack on Ministry aurors.

Albus shook his head. The man just didn't seem either bright enough or powerful enough to have done this by himself. And if he had done it, or gotten help, the question of 'why' still remained. Why would a man bind the magic of his only heir? Especially when that heir was no more than a baby? Surely Severus could not have voiced any objectionable opinions to his father at that age? Indeed, it seemed unlikely that the boy even spoke.

"Well," said old wizard aloud, "we will never find the answer to these questions just by an old man's pondering. "I will need your help child. I need to have another look inside your mind. This time I wish to know what you remember of your father."

At the word 'father', Severus swung his head up to glare at the Headmaster.

Albus nodded sadly. "Yes, I know those are not the best of memories. I don't need to see them all. Just a few. Will you trust me to have a look?" He extended a hand to the boy.

The dark haired child sat on the ground, frozen in place for a moment. Then he noticeably relaxed, took Albus' offered hand, and allowed the older wizard to pull him up onto his knee. Albus smiled at the child, and tried to ignore the fact that the he could feel the worms wiggling around in the boy's pocket through his robes.  He took a moment to brush some of the dirt off the toddler's hands, and handed him two hard toffees. "You will need these," he said with a wink.

Once the boy had shoved the sweets into his mouth, Albus placed his hand to the child's temple. "Legilimens," he whispered.

Albus was standing alone in the room with many passageways. The doorframe that had been sealed shut with stone still had wisps of smoke coming from the bottom of it. Another of the doors stood wide open – it was the room of bright white, and Albus could make out the swirls of color in the distance. Another of the passageways Albus remembered led to Severus' more recent memories. But where would his old memories be hidden? "Show me" he mentally cajoled.

Albus could feel himself being drawn to an old, battered door at the far side of the room. The door was made of wood, and looked quite worn, but it also looked bolted shut. Albus reached out to give the handle a pull, just in case it was unlocked, when he was immediately transported to an old fashioned, worn out looking sitting room. A young baby sat near the hearth as a man and a woman screamed furiously at each other. The Headmaster could hear their hatred in the tone of their voices, but other than making out a few random words he could not understand what they were saying. He soon realized that was because Severus was far too young at the time of the memory to understand many words.

 Meanwhile, Augustus stormed around the room, every now and then stopping his tirade to glare at the child. His wife, who Albus had never met, having been tutored at home as was often the case with girls in pureblooded families, looked no more than twenty. She was clearly growing more and more fearful of the man's wrath, because as his gestures became wilder she stopped her screaming and moved herself between Severus and her husband. Finally Augustus stopped his ranting and moved closer to her. He loomed over her slight frame and hissed something at her. She defiantly shook her head, and he responded with a sharp cuff - the blow landing squarely on her ear. The small child crawled out from behind his mother and looked up at her. Blood trickled down the side of her face and neck from her ear, onto her light gray robes. Augustus sneered and raised his hand again. 

And that's when it happened. Albus saw what seemed to be a flash of light emanating from the baby's eyes. It headed directly for his father and a moment later the man was lifted off his feet and tossed like a rag doll across the room. He slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, a picture frame landing on top of him. Gasping, Augustus struggled to his feet. He looked around wildly for the source of the magic and then focused on his wife. He shouted something at her and then began to approach her with long strides. Again a flash of light from the boy's eyes, and again Augustus flew across the room. This time however nearly every object that was not in some way held down began to vibrate, and an eerie high pitched sound engulfed the room. The bright light continued to come from the boy's eyes, like a beacon of magical force. Augustus noticed it and pointed a shaking finger at his son. Severus' mother turned her head to her child and saw it too. She bent down and lifted up her baby, and the light, and the sense of power that filled the room, disappeared.

A moment later Albus was in another memory, this time outside. Severus' small head popped up above the pram. His father had another man pinned against a tree, his wand pointed at the man's throat. His mother was tugging wildly at his father's robes. Finally Augustus released the man and he immediately disapperated. The angry husband then turned furiously on his wife and pointed his wand at her, and shouted something. She fell to the ground and writhed with pain. Augustus loomed over her continuing to shout furiously, his wand still pointed at her. Then a flash of light from the baby's eyes appeared, followed by a beam that landed squarely onto his father's chest. The man was again lifted off the ground. But this time he spun wildly in place, faster and faster. Severus' mother sat up and recovered herself. She looked first at her spinning husband and then over to her baby. She jumped to her feet and ran towards Severus, shaking her head and waving her arms frantically. Severus let his gaze drop and Augustus landed on the hard dirt at the same moment that Severus' mother reached him.

Memory after memory flew by. Most were violent memories of Augustus' worsening temper towards either the boy or his mother. While Severus seemed to tolerate the assaults against his tiny body, mostly a harsh cuff or a violent shake, he lashed out with magic whenever he saw his mother being harmed. Sometimes he even intervened simply on the basis of a threatening scowl in her direction.

Suddenly the memories slowed to a halt and Albus found himself in a dim room. The child lay awake in his cot, watching through the bars, as his father fiddled with a crystal goblet, pouring a carefully measured vial of liquid into it. He was clearly setting up for some type of ritual. Incense burned in several places and a talisman circle surrounded most of the room. On one of the rails of the cot hung what could only be the tail of a therestral. Albus shuddered. He knew what Augustus was doing. This was going to be no simple magical limiting spell. This was a true magical binding. Something once used on wizards and witches who were banished from the magical world, but now days illegal. Very illegal, and very Dark Magic too. There was a knock on the door, and Augustus opened it just a fraction and peered into the corridor. Then he opened the door a bit wider and in slinked a relatively young and handsome Tom Riddle.

Severus was a bit older in this memory. Although Albus had little experience with the age group he guessed the lad was probably about 18 to 20 months along. Words were clearer now, although the two men where mostly whispering. Riddle looked over the older man's preparations and gave a nod of his head and a grin. Then they approached Severus, the goblet in Riddle's hand.

"Very yummy," came the voice. Smooth as silk. He held the goblet out to the boy.

 Severus glanced suspiciously at his father who had a malicious grin plastered all over his face. "Drink boy. Mummy xcbasfaytd xysnrtyyox proud." Albus did not need to understand all the words to know the child was being conned.

Severus sat up and leaned towards the goblet. Riddle held the goblet to the boy's lips and thoughtfully tipped his head with a gentle hand. "Txvdspylm, good chap."

When Severus finished drinking, Riddle put the goblet down and said something to Augustus. The men then took out their wands and with a large hand Augustus pushed Severus' small body into the mattress, all the while pretending to smile at his son. Riddle put a hand on the child's head and held it steady. Severus' eyes narrowed, but he remained cooperative. 

At a nod from the younger man, they placed the tips of their wands just below the back of Severus's left ear. Then they both began to chant a simultaneous incantation. As they chanted, the dark haired boy grew increasing uncomfortable. It was clear to Albus the boy was in pain. Augustus responded by holding his son in place with more force. Severus desperately began to squirm but with two large men holding him still, he could not escape. "No, no. Nooooo," he cried.

 "So, at one time he did speak," thought the Headmaster, as he watched helplessly, unable to offer any assistance or comfort to the small boy. Then Severus' eyes widened measurable, and a light began to emanate from them. As his head was being held to the side, the beam of light struck the crystal goblet which had been laid on a nearby bedtable. The goblet shattered and chunks of glass flew everywhere, hitting the cot, the wall and the table. One shard struck Augustus' arm, and another sliced into the child's side. The boy screamed with pain. The older man nearly stopped the incantation when the goblet exploded, but Riddle's voice never even wavered. 

A few minutes later a pale green aura began to surround the boy, who was now practically screaming. Then a high pitched whirring sound filled the room. Another minute later the lights flickered and the talismans began to vibrate. Riddle's voice, accompanied by Augustus', grew louder, eventually reaching a crescendo of power. It was then that a swirl of colors lifted out of the boy and swirled above him, eventually forming itself into a funnel shaped cloud. Augustus swallowed dryly but Riddle was grinning ear to ear as he continued to speak the incantation. 

At that point Albus realized there was a furious knocking at the door, and then shouting. A woman's voice pleaded with Augustus to open the door. Severus tried desperately to turn his head towards the sound of his mother, but it was no use. He could not evade their grasps. "Mummy, mummy," he repeated over and over through his sobs.

And then suddenly the tornado of colors moved to hover over the child's head, pointing its bottom tip at the boy's eyes. It spun faster and faster, the colors blurring together in its speed, until it looked like nothing more than a thick silver spinning rod. "The staff" thought Albus. And then in a flash of brilliant light, the beautiful silver representation of Severus magical powers disappeared into his body. The noise and vibrations ceased, as did the incantations.

Riddle, and the child's father, let go of the boy and smiled at one another. The banging on the door continued. The men shook hands and they headed to the door. Augustus unlocked it and Severus' mother fell, face first into the room. The future Dark Lord simply stepped around her and walked out. She got to her feet and looked around her, horrified at what she saw. She ran as quickly as she could over to the cot and reached in, pulling the small boy to her. She hugged him to her chest.

"Oh Severus, my Severus."

Albus noticed that while the little boy appeared to be sobbing, he was now making no sound.

Author's notes:

I can't remember whose fanfiction I borrowed the use of the name "Augustus" from. I just remember seeing it somewhere once and thinking it was perfect. 

Rosaleen – So, where you right?

Trin – Thanks for the offer, but I have plenty to do right now. I have been neglecting my family and sleep at the moment to get these chapters out so fast. Also, writing fanfic is a heck of a lot more fun than writing school papers.


	8. The Trouble with Voldemort

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe upon it.

Chapter 8 – The Trouble with Voldemort

"Arrgg…ark…aahhhh," Arthur Weasley choked on his pint of dark ale, at the mention of Tom Riddle's name.

Albus had been recounting the story of what he had seen in Severus' memories, to the elder Weasleys at the Burrow. He, Minerva and Remus were all in attendance, as of course was Sebastian, who looked up disgustedly when Arthur spluttered his beer all over him. It would have been hard to say which shocked the gentle Weasley patriarch more – the fact that Voldemort (whose name he _still _couldn't bring himself to say) had been involved with the child's missing powers or the knowledge that the cute little dark haired boy Albus had brought to Sunday Dinner was Professor Snape.

The Burrow was one of the most wonderful places on earth, if you asked Albus Dumbledore. Filled with love, and often laughter, the gods seemed to also have blessed it with a fruitfulness that few pureblood families could claim. And no matter who showed up they were always welcomed as if they were family, and correspondingly fed. 

Albus gave Arthur a moment to recover as he watched Molly's most wonderful clock – allowing her to keep track of the whereabouts and well being of all of her brood. "I must get me several of those clocks – one for each House," thought the Headmaster to himself. "And place the names of all my students, present and former, on them. Then I shall sit in a chair for the remainder of my days, and watch the Slytherin clock, and find a way to will them all to stay out of harm's way."

Finally Arthur recovered himself and Molly went over and shut the door that led to the garden. At the moment Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron, were all outside, chatting in the sunshine, while the older adults sat around the large wooden table where they had just eaten a sumptuous meal. When it had ended, Arthur had passed out pints of ale, and they had finally gotten around to discussing the matter at hand.

Molly rejoined the table, and taking the edge of her apron, wiped the remaining dark brew from Severus' face. Then she too sat down.

After a moment of silence, and a large swig from his mug, Arthur asked the obvious question. "Alright then Albus, why tell us? We're flattered by your trust, of course, but you must have a reason?"

Albus nodded. Arthur may come off as a simple man, but he was bright by half, and it was that unsuspected intelligence that had made him such a valuable member of the Order.

"I want to reverse the magical binding. Put an end to the spell that has stripped Severus of what is rightfully his. But I need something from the Ministry that may take a bit of doing."

"Go on Headmaster," came Molly's voice from besides Arthur.

The older wizard leaned in towards the table and lowered his voice. No one outside of the table could hear him of course, but still, it didn't hurt to be careful. "I need Voldemort's wand."

"Arrgg…ark…aahhhh," Arthur choked on his ale again.

Severus this time dove under the table to avoid being rained upon. He made it just in time. 

Molly patted Arthur sharply between the shoulder blades, as if she were trying to dislodge something more solid than beer. "Headmaster, that won't be possible. I believe they are still testing it. Trying to determine the curses and hexes he used and cataloguing them."

Arthur nodded in agreement. "It will be months before they are complete. Until then it will be under guard. And after they are finished, well, I wouldn't be surprised if they had it destroyed."

Albus sat back in his chair and sighed. Minerva put a comforting hand on his sleeve. 

Remus looked over at the quizzical faces of the Weasleys and explained, "If the spell is to be reversed, we need the wands that created it. Albus found Augustus Snape's wand in Professor Snape's belongings. It must have been given to him by the Ministry after the investigation following his father's death. It was one of the few things he had from his father. But we need Riddle's wand as well or it won't work."

Arthur rubbed his balding head. "I wish I could help, Remus. If there was anyway to get near the thing, I would. But you know how they are with Death Eater things – and me being in Muggle Artifacts and all, they wouldn't even let me in the same room with it."

Albus nodded in understanding, and Remus launched the conversation in the direction of other alternatives.

It was at this moment that Severus chose to reemerge from his hiding spot. He looked around and saw that the adults were still chatting. Then, trying to be as innocuous as possible, he crawled to the doorway. He had been trying all morning to get out the open door to the garden, but each time someone noticed and returned him to the kitchen. Now that the midday meal was through, he had apparently decided another try was in order.

This time however he found the door to the garden shut, and looked around for another plan. There was an open window on the other side of the room and he crawled as low to the ground as he could, carefully skirting the table. Albus carefully watched his charges' movements from the corner of his eye, as did Minerva, while the other three Order members continued to chat on about alternative possibilities for ending the spell. 

When Severus reached the window, he pushed himself onto a nearby chair, then onto a countertop, and over to the low window ledge. Albus was about to retrieve the child when Minerva caught his eye. "Allow me," she sent telepathically. An activity that most of the teachers had now ceased, but Albus and Minerva were still occasionally enjoying.

Without even getting up Minerva waved her wand in Severus' direction and he promptly floated back to the floor. The toddler looked about him, wonderingly, but seeing nothing, began to climb the chair again. Once on the window ledge Minerva again levitated him back to the floor. Severus clenched his small fists in annoyance and immediately began his ascent again. 

"And I thought Gryffindors were the stubborn ones," Minerva transmitted to Albus. And again she transported the small boy to the floor.

When Severus lifted his small frame back onto the chair for the fourth time, Minerva muttered, "Enough is enough." With a two quick flicks of her wand, Severus returned to the floor and promptly jumped, throwing his hands behind him and scowling in every direction, looking for the culprit.

Albus chuckled, he would never have smacked the boy like that, but Minerva was cut from a different cloth than he. And while he didn't really believe in the sort of discipline she had just used, Minerva _had managed to turn an unruly and difficult House into the pride of Hogwarts during her run as the head of Gryffindor. She apparently knew something more than he did about handling difficult children._

Finally Severus's eyes settled on Minerva as his most likely suspect and she didn't in the least deny it. "Go up on the chair again, laddy," she said sternly, staring directly into Severus' scowling face, and turning on her thick Scottish brogue, "and you'll only get more of the same."

For a moment the two of them engaged in a staring contest, a battle between an immovable object and an irresistible force, thought Albus bemusedly. Then finally the toddler dropped his stare and went off to sit under the table again. "Well, it was fitting that you would win Minerva," mused Albus. "After all, "Live to fight another day', is practically the Slytherin motto."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "If you took firmer control of the lad I wouldn't be forced to do it for you."

Albus shook his head sadly. "No, my dear. Not if you saw what I saw."

This time it was Molly Weasley, who had overheard that last bit of conversation, that reached a comforting hand across the table to Albus. Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall had reached underneath the table, and had laid a comforting hand on top a small dark head.

*****

Albus was sitting in his office, trying to work out his yearly budget request to the schools' Board of Governors, when Phineas arrived back into his portrait frame, trying to look for all the world like he hadn't just been running.

"The _hero _and his friends," he sniffed, "are on their way up with Sebastian." Phineas then sat down in his portrait chair and adopted a disinterested pose by pretending to be examining his nails.

Albus smiled. Ever since he had placed another of the former Slytherin Headmaster's portraits in the Entrance Hall, Phineas had been doing as good a job as any sentry Albus could have employed. 

"Well Phineas, did Sebastian seem tired? Harry, Hermione and Ronald have had him out and about all morning."

"Humph, how would I know? Am I his nanny now?" Phineas made a few discomforting noises and rolled his eyes a bit for effect. Then he scowled at Albus, but it wasn't a true scowl. His eyes were smiling. "Perhaps he looked a little bit knackered," he conceded. Then he stood up and once again left his frame.

Albus opened the door just as the foursome arrived. Hermione handed an exhausted child to the Headmaster, who laid the boy in a large chair by the hearth. 

"He only lets her carry him," explained Ron, attempting to cover his embarrassment that Hermione had to be the one to carry Severus up all those steps.

Albus waved off his explanation. "Let's have some tea, shall we?"

A house elf was summoned, and everyone present was careful to use their best manners when ordering the tea so as not to upset Hermione. When they were all settled, Harry spoke.

"Sir, I've been thinking while I watched Sebastian this morning, about his voice."

"Yes, Harry?"

"A week ago, when Hermione had me reading all those psychology books, I saw something that might fit. It seems sometimes when someone has seen something traumatic - like a car crash, or maybe a fire - they suffer shock. And sometimes they lose their voice. Some people have even lost their sight for a while. I read it happens a lot to soldiers in wartime."

"Are you serious, man?" Ron asked, surprised. "They can go mute, or even blind?"

Harry nodded. Then the Headmaster did too. "I have heard of such things Harry, and it is entirely plausible that this is what happened to Sebastian. He was able to speak prior to the incantation, but not after. I assumed it had something to do with the spell, but this makes more sense. Eventually I suppose his ability to speak returned, once those memories receded far enough into the past."

It was Hermione's turn to speak. "Headmaster, why would He-Who-Should….oh, pardon, I mean Voldemort, agree to help Severus' father?"

The Headmaster sighed. "Mr. Riddle had a significant amount of businesses that dealt with the Dark Arts. He usually preferred to keep a low profile. A silent partner if you will. It is how he was able to make most of his initial contacts when he finally decided to remake himself as Lord Voldemort. Riddle was one of Augustus' business partners. I would surmise he asked for Tom's assistance when he realized that his son was becoming a threat to his well being."

A rustling sound caused all eyes too look up. "Your pet werewolf will be arriving momentarily."

"Thank you, Phineas."

A moment later Remus arrived grinning. He declined an offer of a cup of tea and paced the room – a man with something clearly on his mind. He paused briefly in front of the chair with the now sleeping boy and smiled down at him. "I like him this way best," he said with a laugh.

Harry and Ron laughed too, but Hermione and Albus did not. "I don't know," said Hermione carefully. "He's really a good sort, he's just had a hard time of it."

"Yeah," frowned Ron, "and then he went and gave everyone else a hard time of it too."

"_Did_, Ron, _did," Hermione defended. "He's just a baby now."_

The Headmaster cleared his throat, and Ron blushed, having forgotten whom he was speaking in front of. Then Albus turned his gaze on Remus. "Did you have something you wanted to say, Remus?"

Remus stopped his pacing. "I think I know how we can do without Voldemort's wand." All eyes turned to him expectantly and Remus smiled broadly. "We can use Harry's wand instead!"

"_My_ wand?" Harry spluttered.

"Of course," cried Hermione happily, "Why didn't I think of that? Harry, your wand and Voldemort's wand are brother wands. If any other wand has a chance to work it would be yours."

Albus smiled. "An excellent suggestion, Remus. I think you may have something there. Perhaps I can impose upon you to let the others know we may have found a solution? We'll meet here in two days. That will give Ms. Granger, Harry and I a chance to gather everything we need.'

Remus agreed and they all bid good afternoon to Albus and headed on their way, the gentle werewolf promising to buy them all lunch at the Three Broomsticks.

Albus picked up the child and carried him to the nursery, laying him carefully in his cot and pulling the curtains tight shut so the boy's nap would not be disturbed by the mid afternoon sun.

Then he returned to the main office and stroked Fawkes chest feathers for a bit, deep in thought. Finally he approached the portrait, which to his surprise, was fast becoming his favorite former Headmaster.

"Tell me Phineas, from a Slytherin perspective, if Mr. Riddle knew of Sebastian's powers, why would he not try to make use of those abilities when the boy joined his cause?"

Phineas snorted. "The question you should be asking is why Riddle did not just kill him. Indeed I think it quite the bit of luck for young Sebastian that all that befell him was a binding spell. Powerful as that might be. "

At the current Headmaster's confused look Phineas sighed and shook his head. "Be sensible man, why should someone who fancies himself to be the most powerful wizard in the world, allow another man _who is clearly even more powerful than himself, access to that power? As I said, if as you reported he was the simple victim of a spell, than that can only be thought of as good fortune."_

"I suppose," agreed Albus reluctantly. It was hard to think of what Severus went through as 'good fortune', but it _was better than Severus' death. Perhaps Tom had not developed the ability to kill so easily when Severus was a child? Or perhaps he wasn't secure enough yet to think he wouldn't be caught. And later, he was invaluable to Voldemort as both a Potion's Master and as a spy.  Still, knowing how maniacally jealous the Dark Lord was, it was indeed lucky that the boy was even alive._

"He should have recruited Gryffindors, you know."

Albus looked up, the figure in the portrait was now sitting in his chair, relaxed, with his legs crossed. "What are you getting at Phineas?" the Headmaster asked wearily.

"Riddle. He was a fool. If he had half a brain he would have recruited Gryffindors. They are easily riled, willing to break the rules, and best of all – loyal to a fault. Oh, sure, there are a few mutinous ones in every group, but by and large they would have done him well. Instead he recruits Slytherins. Each one constantly plotting how they can get the upper hand and dispose of the Death Eater above him. Sheer idiocy on Riddle's part. No wonder you were able to beat him."

"Thank you for that high praise, Phineas. Good day."

And with that the Headmaster went back to his desk and his budget requests. His thoughts however, never veered much from the sleeping child in the next room over.

Authors note:

To all of you who asked why Voldemort did not try to use Severus' powers, I hope this chapter answers your questions. I had thought quite a bit about that. As for other things you may be wondering, I am hopeful that I will get most of the questions you may be having answered before I end this story. Believe me, I have over thought this fic. But off course I don't mind you asking at all - keeps me on my toes, and you never know, I could miss something. So feel free to ask away.

Thanks for all your lovely reviews. Keep them coming!!!!!


	9. Bound and Determined

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe upon it.

Chapter 9 – Bound and Determined

Albus walked as quickly as he could down the halls of Hogwarts 5th floor - that is, as quickly as he could with a toddler in tow. Severus would never abide Albus carrying him, except for that very first day nearly two months ago. He allowed Minerva to carry him though, Hermione too, and even Poppy. Indeed Poppy had paced the floor last evening, singing decidedly Hufflepuffian songs to the boy, as he lay with his head upon her shoulder, listening intensely. But he would not allow Albus the same honor. "No doubt," thought Albus many a time, "his father had seen to it that he has little trust in men."

After taking a full five minutes to cross a single hallway, and having stopped and pulled the child away from investigating several open doorways along their way, Albus finally resorted to levitation. At first Severus seemed apprehensive, and then a bit indignant at being drawn along in midair, but eventually the boy seemed to find it quite good fun. Indeed, by the time they had arrived at the classroom which was their destination, Severus was turning flips and performing other acrobatic feats.

Floating the boy gently to the ground, Albus stepped into the room. Minerva was already there, as was Filius Flitwick, who had summoned the Headmaster.  Albus had no idea what he would find when he arrived, but as Filius seemed quite nervous (and as he was not prone to exaggerating such things), he had come as fast as he could.

The room was a former classroom, currently in use as a storeroom. It was filled with various supplies in no real pattern. Empty cages used to house transfiguration assignments, old textbooks, a few spare wands kept for students who lost theirs, and even some old school Quidditch broomsticks, decorated most of the old stone room.

Not sure what to look for, Professor Dumbledore turned to his diminutive Charms Professor and asked, "What was it you wished me to see, Filius?"

"I was just looking for a few items for the Fall Term. Some heavier objects for the third years to levitate, when I came across that."

Professor Flitwick pointed towards the left side of the room, which due to the waning sun was deep in shadow. There was a large dark area on the wall, even darker than the otherwise gray shadowed stone. Albus approached the area carefully. Severus was holding on to the side of his robes and Albus placed a protective hand on the boy's head. With an unobtrusive flick of his wand, the Headmaster cleared a path directly to the area in question. Then he muttered "Lumos", and his wand tip flared with light.

Reaching the spot in question, the old wizard realized that the dark spot on the wall was really no wall at all. There was a hole there, and not just any old hole, but rather one that looked like the outline of a man.

The Headmaster ran his wand along the edge of the orifice, and then reached into the opening to see how deep it went. Not able to find the end of it, Albus moved his lit wand in front of him and stuck his head into the hole. Severus apparently thought he should follow suit, and went one step further by moving his entire body inside the opening. Albus grabbed the back of the boy's small robe and tried to pull him backward, but found that the child would not budge.

Holding Severus as tight as possible, he called loudly for both his instructors' help. The two rushed, wands drawn, to offer assistance. It seemed that while the top half of the toddler's body was intact, his lower half had taken on a translucent look. Something akin to the ethereal look of Hogwarts' spirit residents. 

Professors McGonagall and Flitwick surveyed the situation with their illuminated wands, and then Filius made a suggestion. "Albus, this looks somewhat similar to those occasions when one of the building's ghosts get accidentally lodged in a piece of the castle. It happens to Peeves all the time when he's not paying attention to what he's doing. May I try a spell or two?"

Albus consented, and while Minerva lay a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder – Albus still retained a death grip on the child's robes – little Flitwick squeaked out an incantation. A moment later Severus stumbled backward, held upright by only the Headmaster's sturdy grip.

Minerva shook her head at the boy. "More trouble than a warlock at a witches' coven. That's what you are!" Then she promptly lifted the child into her arms and held him close. He did not struggle to get away, although he did look a bit put out by all the fuss.

Albus emerged from the opening and shook his head. "I haven't the foggiest idea what this may be. But I am certain that it is hardly likely to be good. Filius, most of the teachers are back from holiday. I should like to arrange a room to room search, to see if anything may be found. Have the faculty meet in the staff room at a quarter past. We will go in pairs only, with the Heads of Houses supervising their portions of the castle. Ask the ghosts to search as well. I will have the portraits interviewed by Headmaster Nigellus, to see if any of them saw anything."

If this last order surprised the Head of Ravenclaw, he did not say anything. He only nodded and headed out to alert the others.

Minerva, still clutching Severus, looked seriously at Headmaster. "It could take all day to search, Albus."

The old wizard nodded. "I know my dear. Could you see who from the Order might be available to assist us? And if Molly's home, I want you to leave Sebastian with her. I can't assume he will be safe going room to room with us, and if we are to try and reverse the spell tomorrow, then he also needs to be relaxed and well rested."

Albus gave the boy a few lemon drops from his pouch and Minerva carried him out. The Headmaster then made haste to the staff room to await the other.

He did not have long to wait, for in short order all the present staff had assembled, including Minerva who had deposited the boy at the Burrow. Dumbledore explained the situation and they all headed out in pairs to their respective destinations. Albus went with Poppy to take the common areas of the castle.

Madame Pomfrey and the Headmaster searched the infirmary, the great Hall, the Room of Requirement, the Staff Room, the main supply closets, and even the lavatories on the main floor, but found nothing amiss. The others, however, were not that fortunate. Over the next six hours, Dumbledore responded to five separate summonses. Each time another opening in a wall in some far flung classroom or cupboard. Because all the rooms involved were at the moment in a state of disuse, it was difficult to tell if anything had been touched or removed. Indeed some of the rooms still remained locked or warded, indicating that whatever had come out of the stone, had returned the same way.

After a few more hours Albus concluded the search for the time being. The teachers were exhausted, and getting a bit jumpy as well. They were advised to stay out of the lesser used parts of the castle and it was decided that the Ministry would be notified of what they had found. Albus assured Minerva that he would request Tonks and Kingsley, so that they would not have to worry about interference at their attempt tomorrow to restore Severus' magic. With that assurance Minerva requested to be allowed to retrieve Severus from the Burrow and take him into Hogsmeade for a bit, while it still remained light outside.

"A stop at Honeydukes, perhaps?" asked Albus with a twinkle.

Minerva frowned. "Really Albus, as if you don't provide the child with enough sugar already. I thought perhaps I might purchase him a robe or tunic for the occasion. Those black jumpers, and that hideous lime green shirt, are hardly appropriate for such an important event."

The Headmaster chuckled and gave his consent. He could use a few more peaceful hours without the child presence in order to speak with Phineas and get the results of his interviews with the other portraits. He also needed to contact the Ministry and make sure they sent the proper aurors.

 It was not that he didn't miss the child, indeed he hadn't been away from him this long since the Ministry hearings; it was just that it was often difficult to concentrate on anything when the child was in the room. When he wasn't pulling on Fawkes tail feathers ("no doubt he thinks they are potential potions ingredients," chuckled Albus), or attempting to climb up bookshelves to retrieve books – despite the fact that he could not yet read, or misusing one of Albus' expensive and rare gadgets, then he was intensely watching Albus' every move making it nearly impossible to concentrate.

Still, the old wizard had grown very fond of the boy, and was looking forward to being able to give him back the gift of his magic at tomorrow's ceremony. He only hoped that Harry's wand would be a sufficient substitute for Voldemort's. In theory it should work, but Albus knew from experience that theory and reality were two separate realms.

The old wizard soon made his way back to the office and consulted with Phineas. The Slytherin Headmaster was not very forthcoming however, and Dumbledore was suspicious that he was not getting a full report. Instead Phineas was refusing to look Albus in the eye, and reporting nothing more than vague inferences.

"Phineas," said the Headmaster with a sigh, "reporting that someone may have seen sometime, sometime ago, in the Ravenclaw tower, is not much help."

Phineas shrugged casually, reminding Albus quite forcefully for a moment of Severus when he was being evasive of one of Albus' queries. 

"If my answers are not sufficient," drawled the former Headmaster, "I suppose I could always make something up for you that would suit you better?"

 Albus ran weary fingers behind the frames of his half moon glasses and rubbed his eyes. Phineas was holding back information, of that much he was sure, but he was uncertain as to why. He was also too tired from the search to press him at the moment. Usually Phineas would speak when he was ready to, and not before. That's how Slytherins' were.

"Very well, Phineas, you win. I am going to take a bit of a nap. Tomorrow is a big day you know and I am meeting with Ms. Granger and Mr. Potter tonight to prepare. Let me know if you hear anything more." He then headed into his private bedchamber.

Just before he turned the corner he saw what he thought was a bit of a sad, and perhaps a bit guilty, look on the former Headmaster's face; and then Phineas promptly turned and fled his frame in a swirl of old fashioned robes.

****

That evening Minerva arrived back with Severus and a bundle of packages. They had gone to 'Wee Apparel', a children's clothing store, but had also managed a stop in a few other places. One of them was 'Zonkos'.

"Surely you didn't, Minerva?" asked Albus when he saw the package, his face lighting up in delight

"I assure you Albus, there are no exploding anything in here. Just a few items that change color or transfigure into something else. He can use them to add some realism into his 'potions making'.

Severus just stood there quietly next to McGonagall. He was smirking, although he had obviously realized it was best to hide it, and was desperately trying to work the corners of his mouth down. 

"I see," said Albus as he peered into the bag. "Just a few items, eh? There must be a wizard's dozen in here."

"Oh really Albus, let's not make a mountain out of this, shall we?" And with that she handed Albus all the packages, except one "I will bring the tunic in the morning. I have a bit of work to do with it still. Now, tell me what Headmaster Nigellus reported."

Glancing up at the still empty portrait, Albus related the former Headmaster's obstructiveness.

"He's hiding something, then?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Most probably," agreed the current Headmaster.

"Minerva nodded. "No doubt whatever it is it involves another Slytherin then. They will cut each other down without a second notice, but when it comes to outsiders they never betray each other."

Albus thought about this for a moment. "You may be right Minerva. I don't know whether it is a Slytherin ghost wandering our castle walls, or just a disoriented ghoul, but I fear it may be bound to the castle by now."

At Minerva's questioning look Albus continued. "The magical structure of our Hogwarts, as you well know from the battle, is as alive as the magic that courses through our bodies. If a creature inhabits the inner structure of the castle for too long a period of time, some of that magic will invade the creature, and he too will become part of the castle."

"You mean it will not be able to get out?" asked the Gryffindor Head, quite horrified.

"As I said, it will be bound to the castle. It may be determined to get free, but it will not be successful."

Minerva swallowed dryly. "Could this creature be perhaps one of the Death Eaters that were forcibly drawn into the castle's walls, during the battle?"

Albus shook his head. "No, the creature would have to be far less corporeal than a wizard to survive. The pressure of the stone alone would kill a man, even if he could survive the lack of air, food or water. If it is a Death Eater, he is a dead one."

Minerva nodded, satisfied. "Very good. I will be back in the morning for the ceremony." With a pat on the head for the boy, and one on the shoulder for Albus, the Head of Gryffindor took her leave.

Albus went over to the boy and tried to lift him into his arms, but Severus shook him off. The boy took the bag from his caretaker and headed to the nursery. Albus followed him and made himself comfortable in the room's rocking chair. For the next hour he watched the boy experiment with the new toys, pouring his potions on them and watching them transfigure before his eyes. Severus was clearly pleased with this 'magic' and it made Albus more confident that he was doing the right thing.

As the old wizard watched the boy, thoughts tumbled through his mind. Tomorrow, if all went well, Severus would most likely be the recipient of a great deal of magical power. How would he use that power? Would he be able to handle it? It would be ideal if his powers could be released slowly, but that was something that Albus would not be able to tell until he tried. The Headmaster knew however, that once the magic was released, he would have to teach the boy how to put limits on his expressions of power. Perhaps he could ask Minerva to be of assistance in that area?

Eventually the child tired of his experiments, and Albus helped him to clean up and then took him down to the kitchens, so that they could have one last quiet meal together before the monumental changes tomorrow would bring with it.

Authors note:

Next chapter will definitely be the ceremony to return Severus' magic. Sorry to make you wait so long. 

I also apologize for throwing another mystery into the story at this late a date. But it is an absolutely essential one and hopefully won't detract from the main focus of Severus' magical powers. Next chapter we will be back to focusing on the little Potions Master.

Thank you for the lovely reviews. Honestly, they make my day!


	10. Finite Incantatum

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe upon it.

Chapter 10 – Finite Incantatum

Severus stood in the middle of his nursery, glaring at each person in turn as they mingled about, touching his potions kit, pointing as his duvet cover in his cot with ridiculous grins, and laughing at his attempts at writing, displayed on the parchments lying on his small work table. It was clear to Albus that if he didn't get this ceremony going soon, Severus was going to loose what he had left of his infinitely small reserve of patience – and the one thing they didn't need before the ceremony was a temper tantrum.

Albus approached the boy and kneeled down in front of him. He gave him a big grin, and receiving only a scowl in return, he reached into his pocket and handed the child a peppermint chew. Severus popped it into his mouth, never once dropping the glower. 

Albus sighed and smoothed the front of the boy's tunic. For the umpteenth time that morning Albus admired Minerva's work. He knew that she must have spent hours permanently transfiguring the shirt to the form it was now. It was made of a soft dark green velvet, with a satin collar and sleeves. Intricate silver work adorned the edges, winding in snake like designs from front to back. Along the sleeves' edges there were a series of buttons, that when you looked at them closely were revealed to be tiny pewter cauldrons. And if that wasn't enough, Minerva had repeating "Ss" embroidered in silver thread along the neckline, looking from afar like vines in a field.

Severus apparently liked it to, because after the Headmaster had helped him to finish dressing this morning, the toddler had stood in front of the mirror for quite a while – repeatedly touching his hand to the glass and then to himself, as if to assure himself that the fine reflection he saw was indeed him.

"Time to get started, my boy" Albus said as softly as he could over the noise of the assembled participants. He then stood back up, and taking the child's hand, led him to a chair that had been placed in the center of a talisman circle in the middle of the room.

When the crowd noticed what the Headmaster was doing, they stopped chatting and began to form a circle themselves.

Not for the first time the Headmaster wished that this ceremony could be conducted with fewer people. But for varying reasons he needed them all. Harry for his wand of course, and Hermione for the instructions. Minerva and Poppy were present to help restrain the boy if necessary, Albus deciding that physical restraint from caring arms being preferable to magical restraint of any sort. Remus was the lookout. He would stay in the main office area and alert Albus to any disturbance that required his attention. And Ron was there because, well, because Harry and Hermione seldom ever did anything without Ron. And besides, in another week the golden trio would be split forever when Harry and Ron began the three year long arduous task of auror training, while Ms. Granger stayed behind at Hogwarts to teach first through fourth year potions (Albus was still interviewing for an instructor for the upper forms, and a potential Slytherin Head of House) The three were clearly trying to spend every last moment they could together, and Albus didn't have the heart to leave young Mr. Weasley out of things.

"Shall we begin?" asked the Headmaster. He stood next to Severus and smiled. Then he slipped a large potions bottle from his pocket and handed it to the boy.

Without questioning his caretaker at all, Severus unstoppered it, and drank the contents. He smiled and licked his lips. Albus had made sure that the taste was a pleasant one.

Once the initial preparations were finished, Remus headed out the nursery door, shutting it softly behind him. Minerva and Poppy then stepped into the circle, flanking the boy on each side, and laying comforting hands on his shoulders. Ron and Hermione remained outside the small circle, as did Harry and Albus. The latter two went quietly around to the back of the chair, out of Severus' line of sight. The toddler tried to twist his head to see what was going on behind him, but Professor McGonagall gently nudged his head back forward. Ron saw what the trouble was and moved slightly, so that he was now directly in Severus' view. He made a few silly faces to keep the child's attention focused forward. The toddler was not particularly amused by the youngest Weasley's antics, and did not crack even the tiniest of grins, but it provided enough of a diversion that he did not see the wands being slowly drawn behind him, and pointed just below his ear. 

At Albus' nod, Hermione muttered a quick "Incendo", and all the small wicks floating in dishes of oil, which had been spread about the bedchamber, ignited. As there was plenty of light from the morning sun, the added candle light was barely noticeable, but the fragrances released by the burning oils quickly filled the room.

A moment later Albus began a quiet chant. Harry then joined him. Severus, of course, immediately lost interest in Ron as soon as the chanting began and once again tried to turn his head. Minerva prevented him from doing so, and the boy responded by trying to twist his entire body around instead. This time Poppy Pomfrey stopped him with a firm grip on his torso. Severus arched his back, but it was of no use, the two witches were far too strong for him. He was trapped. He closed his eyes tight and grimaced. 

"Is he in pain?" whispered Minerva to the mediwitch.

Poppy moved her hands slightly upward to feel at the child's carotid pulse. "I am not sure," she whispered back, "but he is clearly upset."

The incantation droned on for several minutes, and eventually a familiar high pitched sound, like a top spinning filled the room. Then a pale green aura began to emanate from Severus' body, and the objects lining the talisman circle began to vibrate. 

The boy had given up struggling, and now sat as still as Albus had ever seen him, even while asleep. As he pointed his wand at him, Albus could feel the force of the magic permeating right back up at him. It was difficult to keep the wand steady and he glanced at Harry, whom he noticed had rivulets of sweat running down the side of his face. Harry's wand was shaking, although he valiantly continued the chant while he struggled to keep his arm steady. Finally the time seemed right and Albus caught Harry's eye. With a prearranged signal – two rapid blinks of Albus' eyes - they simultaneously spoke the words that the old wizard hoped would free the boy's magic.

 "Finite Incantatum"

The moment he said it, Albus knew it had been a mistake. The explosive force that instantaneously issued back through his wand knocked the old wizard to the ground. But compared to what happened to The-Boy-Who-Lived, Albus could count himself among the lucky. Harry flew through the air like a leaf in a gale, slamming into the door and knocking it clear off its hinges. The pride of Gryffindor then fell firmly to the ground in an unmoving, and clearly unnaturally positioned heap.

 Before anyone could react and offer assistance, a bright light sprung from Severus' eyes and fixed on the opposite wall. The beam of light narrowed where it joined together at its target and began to take form. The light swirled around in a counterclockwise motion, solidifying in its interior but casting off a permeable mist of colored smoke around its edges. 

The sense of power the now rod like light gave off was so overwhelming that it filled the room with a thickness that made it difficult to move. Poppy fought against it in order to get to Harry, but she found her limbs were fighting against some unseen barrier. Minerva in turn, could barely move her head to check on Albus' situation. Hermione and Ron were reaching for each other, the way one would while fighting off hurricane force winds.

Finally, when the pressure had built to such intensity that it seemed everyone in the room would suffocate, the light, which had now solidified into a silver staff, suddenly flew towards the tiny figure sitting transfixed in his chair. The boy reached out his hand, whether to catch it or protect himself from it Albus could not guess, but it flew right into him, being instantly absorbed into his body.

The pressure was immediately released from the surroundings, and everyone frantically gulped large mouthfuls of air. As soon as Poppy had her wits about her again, she turned and ran towards Harry. She was surprised to find that Remus was already at his side, having heard the commotion from the main office. She ran a quick diagnostic, and with only a brief nod towards Albus, levitated Harry and headed him towards the infirmary.

Minerva was unsure who to check on first. Ron and Hermione were gripping each others' shoulders as they tried to regain their equilibrium. Albus had lifted himself from the floor, and was repairing his broken glasses with a quick spell. Severus was sitting as still as could be, but looking for all the world as if he were contemplating something important.

Then the small child slipped off the large chair and headed towards the left wall, where a series of built in cupboards and shelves lined the area. He looked around for a moment and then his eyes settled on his potions bowl. He stared at it for a moment, and then the magical light emerged from his eyes. While Albus was sure the boy had intended to do no more than summon his beloved potions bowl, that was not the result that occurred. Every item on the shelves, and every object in the cupboards, immediately flew from their place and banged, crashed and slammed into various other parts of the nursery and its collective occupants. A moment later the few decorative pictures that Albus had decorated the nursery with, flew from their spots on the walls, swishing over the ducking heads all those assembled. Albus pointed his wand at the boy who had been knocked to the floor a moment before by a large, stuffed dragon, and shouted "Imperturbas". 

Immediately any picture that flew within a foot of Severus bounced away, as if it had come in contact with a magical force field. Harry and Ron in turn lifted their wands and each gave repeated cries of "Impedimenta", effectively freezing whichever flying picture frame their spell had come into contact with.

Then suddenly, in the next room over where Remus still stood guard, the Headmaster heard a shout of surprise just before the crashing commenced. All eyes flew to Severus, who was sitting unperturbed on the floor in a cocoon of protective magic.  Hermione emerged from behind the small table where she had taken refuge. "Headmaster, look at his eyes. He still hasn't turned his magic off!"

"I got it," shouted Ron, who pointed his wand at the child. "Stupe…"

"Expelliarmus!"

 Ron's wand flew to the outstretched hand of the Headmaster. "No one is to hex Sebastian," he stated firmly.

The crashing sounds in the next room continued and a moment later Fawkes flew into the nursery, followed by a frantic Remus. "Headmaster," he shouted. "Your office – it's being destroyed. All the …"

The old wizard held up a hand to quiet the gentle werewolf as he made his way across the room to the small dark haired boy. Minerva was already at the child's side, trying to convince him to sever the magical connection. The boy was not listening to her, though. He was deep in thought, as if he were unaware of what he was doing and the havoc he was wreaking.

Albus knelt down next to the child. "Sebastian! Stop your magic," the Headmaster ordered the boy. At any other time the tone of the older wizard's command would have got the boy's attention. But not this time.

Minerva and Albus exchanged glances. The noises from the other room were lessening, but Albus knew that it was more than likely due to the fact that all the objects had been either broken, or frozen by Remus before he fled, than Severus' turning his spigot of power off. Besides, the eerie light still shone from his eyes.

Albus dropped the Imperturbas spell, and tried shaking the boy's shoulders to get his attention. The child moved himself slightly to dislodge Albus' light grip. But he would not look at his caretaker. His eyes continued to shine at, and apparently through, the nearby wall.

Hermione approached the Headmaster, and leaning over, whispered something into his ear. Albus smiled and reached out for the boy's forehead.

"Somnus," he whispered. The magical light abruptly extinguished and Severus turned his head towards the old wizard, just a moment before his eyes drooped shut. Albus quickly moved his arms and caught the toddler's slumping body. 

All those present gathered around the Headmaster and the boy. Ron spoke first. "What the bloody hell happened?"

At Minerva's reproving glance, Ron blushed. "I mean, was this _supposed_ to happen? The way it did?"

Albus rose to his feet, the sleeping child in his arms. "No, Mr. Weasley, not like this. I fear that Harry's wand, not being an exact match for the original wand, created an imbalance. I was trying to release the magic more slowly, but the pressure of Sebastian's power was built up for nearly forty years, and as our incantation tried to release it, it found the path of least resistance."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Harry's wand! That's why he was thrown like that. Sebastian didn't do it on purpose then, did he?"

Albus shook his head. "I highly doubt anything you saw here today was done intentionally. I just fear that now that the boy's power has been released without any sort of limitations on it, he won't be able to control it. And it has been my experience that once the genie has been let out of its bottle, it is quite difficult to put it back in."

With those words and a large sigh, Albus carried the child over to the room's rocking chair. He righted it with a wave of his hand and sat down with the boy in his arms. He then began to rock back and forth, deep in thought. Fawkes perched himself on the chair's arm and began to make a gentle trilling sound.

There was a bit of whispering among the four remaining people in the room, and then everyone but Minerva made their way out of the bedchamber – Ron pausing at the Headmaster momentarily to retrieve his wand. Then the Transfiguration Professor made her way to stand directly in front of Albus, and looked sharply down at the sleeping boy, a stern expression on her face.

"The others will get started on a clean up of your office. When they are finished, you can move into another room and they will do the same in here," she stated, indicating the mess surrounding them with a wave of her hand – as if Albus somehow had lacked awareness of the destruction that surrounded him. "I am going to check on Ms. Tonks and Mr. Shackelbolt. I will be back shortly."

As she turned to leave, the old wizard mumbled a quiet "Thank you, my dear."

Minerva stopped in her tracks and turned back to her old friend. Her face softened considerably. "He will not sleep forever, Albus," she warned gently. "Something will have to be done."

"I know, my dear, I know."

With that phrase lingering in the air, and one tiny backward glance at the decimated nursery, the Head of Gryffindor took her leave.
    
    Author's note: I hope you enjoyed the return of Severus' magic (at least more than the occupants of the room did). For those of you that were hoping everything would go off without a hitch, just remember that I warned you in the summary – "_Nothing in Snape's life is ever easy, is it?". ;)_
    
    Thank you again for all the lovely reviews – both to my new reviewers and my repeat reviewers. They are terrific fun to read!


	11. The Better Part of Valor

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe on it.  

Chapter 11 – The Better Part of Valor

_"The better part of valor is discretion" ___

_William Shakespeare      Henry IV, Part 1, act 5, sc. 4_

It had not been a good day. Indeed if truth be told, and Albus Dumbledore was by and large a truthful man, it had not been a good week. No, not good at all.

The old wizard shuffled across his office to the fireplace and looked at the disembodied head of Remus Lupin floating in the flames.

"Sorry to disturb you Headmaster, but I am down in the lower kitchens, and there is something here you ought to see."

"I'll be right down Remus," the Headmaster sighed. He summoned Dobby to watch the sleeping boy, and went to get his dressing gown. He did not want to go down several flights of stairs at this time of night. Indeed, he had just been about to go to bed when he heard Remus' call. And he really needed his sleep tonight. Today had been particularly trying.

Still, if Remus thought it was important, then it probably was. All week long they had been finding more and more evidence of the creature that was inhabiting Hogwarts' walls. The ward alarms that Tonks and Kingsley had set last week in the more disused parts of the castle had been going off continuously, yet they had repeatedly arrived too late to find anything, except perhaps another hole in the stone walls. The students would not be arriving for several weeks yet, but Albus wanted this mystery solved before then – after all, he had enough to worry about with Severus.

Severus. The name swirled in the thoughts of the Headmaster night and day. And as he made his way out of his office and down the many sets of stairs to the lower kitchens, he continued to ponder the dilemma that the child provided him.

For one week now Severus had had access to his full range of powers. But he had no ability to control that power, nor had he shown any signs of gaining any. For a solid week he had wreaked havoc in the school, leaving a swath of destruction wherever Albus took him. And he never took him far. At the moment Albus' and Minerva's rooms were the only places left the Headmaster dared to venture.

A few days ago Albus had even resorted to what he considered desperate measures. He had taken Filius Flitwick into his confidence and told him the truth about the boy. The Head of Ravenclaw was not a member of the Order, but Albus knew he could trust him, and he _was a Charm's Master. Albus had pinned a large amount of hope on the idea that Flitwick could cast a simple limiting spell on the boy – the way they occasionally needed to do on a first year whose magic was coming out in unpredictable spurts. A limiting spell was a simple thing when cast correctly – not at all related to the Dark Magic of a magical binding spell.  It was painless, easily removable by any competent adult, and wore off on its own in a few months time if not removed first. It would have been the perfect solution. But to Albus' great disappointment, the exercise did nothing more then land the tiny Charms professor half way across the room with a broken wand tip. Severus' magic apparently was not willing to be tampered with._

When Albus dutifully arrived at the lower kitchens, he was led to a far off pantry nearing the back. The door was unlocked by Remus, and the two men stepped in, followed by several shaking house elves. The floor of the pantry was littered with discarded wrappers and half consumed bottles of soft cider. Crumbs covered a good section of the floor as well.

Albus looked quizzically at his former Defense teacher, "Hungry staff members?"

Remus chuckled, but shook his head. "No, Sir. This pantry is used to store foods only used for feasts. One of the house elves was checking the stock in preparation for the Welcoming Feast when he found someone, or something, had been in here. He came and got me, and showed me this…," at that Remus moved the door slightly, which a moment ago had been pushed back against the inner wall, and exposed the man-shaped opening that ran along it.

Albus nodded and looked around him once more. "It seems our guest is more corporal than we thought. At the very least, it needs to eat."

"Demons need to eat," Remus ventured.

Albus nodded. "Yes, they do, though they usually eat their food alive. Of course if this is all they have access to…" the Headmaster gave a shudder. Then he looked at Remus' panicked expression as well as the wide saucer eyes of the listening house elves and codified his statement. "Of course there are lots of other creatures that need to eat as well. Many completely harmless!" He added a smile for good measure.

Albus ordered the pantry, and all the pantries and kitchens, to be alarm warded in the morning. He advised the house elves to work in pairs and then bid Remus, who was staying in the castle to help with the current mystery, a goodnight. He made his way up to the main floor and was waiting in the Entrance Hall for the staircase he needed to move back into its proper position, when he noticed that Phineas was watching him from his recently hung portrait.

The Headmaster had not seen the former Slytherin Headmaster in his picture in the main office this past week, except for one thirty minute tirade about the scratches Severus' initial demonstration of power had left around his gilded frame. After that he had pretty much stayed away, and Albus had figured he was simply angry at him and the boy. Therefore, it was quite surprising to the old wizard when the Slytherin spoke to him.

"Another wall episode?"

Albus nodded. "Yes, this time a pantry in the lower kitchens."

Phineas gave an infinitesimal start of surprise, and then immediately blanked his expression. On a member of any other House it would not have even been worth noting, but on a Slytherin, it meant something was up. Albus had known for quite a while that Phineas had been hiding something, and by now he had had enough.

The Headmaster was exhausted. In less than six hours the boy would be awake and flinging uncontrolled magic – wild charms, disastrous spells, devastating hexes, impossible transfigurations, you name it - about his office. He would then be spending the vast majority of time distracting the child's attention so as to turn off the stream the magic, or desperately trying to research how to limit this phenomenal power in the few quiet moments in between, and of course repairing whatever he could not prevent from occurring in the first place. He also had a potential demon, or some other such creature, running through the walls of Hogwarts with less than a month before the students returned. And speaking of that, he still did not have a Head of House for Slytherin nor an upper forms Potions teacher, despite Minerva canvassing the wizarding world looking for such a candidate. So the Headmaster was definitely out of patience for nonsense and let Phineas know that in no uncertain terms.

A few harsh words later, Albus was feeling quite a bit better for having been able to relieve some of his pent up frustration from the last week. But to Albus' surprise, the former Headmaster did not come clean nor even rise to his own defense - instead he simply stalked out of his frame, looking for the first time that Albus could remember, embarrassed.

The old wizard sighed and sat down on one of the ancient velvet covered benches that lined the entrance way and rubbed his eyes. The staircases, which usually responded to Albus' presence immediately, were not being cooperative this evening. He decided to close his eyes for a moment while he waited. Only seconds later, the exhausted Headmaster was asleep.

***

"Albus, wake up." It was Minerva McGonagall tapping him on the shoulder.

The Headmaster sat upright and saw the light streaming in through the Entrance Hall windows near the high ceiling. He had apparently slept on the blasted bench all night, and he could feel every muscle in his shoulder, back and neck screaming at him for it.

Just then the memories of last night flooded into his conscious mind, and concern for Severus being the chief one, he looked worriedly at Minerva. The Transfiguration Professor knew exactly what his panicked expression referred to and she put a calming hand on the older wizard's arm.

"Dobby contacted me this morning when you did not return. Poppy has taken Sebastian to the infirmary with her. I have been looking for you for an hour now – I passed you twice without noticing you. If Phineas hadn't said something I might have passed you by a third time."

Albus looked over at the portrait, but caught only a glimpse of the old Headmaster's robes as he quickly exited his frame. "I am not sure the infirmary is a good place for the boy." Albus turned back towards the old witch. "So many breakables…."

Minerva shook her head and tutted. "If he can destroy both our offices and bedchambers, I see no reason why the infirmary should be off limits. Besides, ever since you forced Poppy to release Harry and allow him to start his auror training she has been quite lonely in the hospital wing, all by herself.  It will do her good to have something to occupy her time until the students return.

Albus stood up and snorted ungracefully, "I hardly think shouting "impedimenta" all morning is her idea of something to do. Still, I could use the time to see how Ms. Granger's research is progressing. I, myself, haven't been able to find anything even remotely helpful."

Minerva politely transfigured Albus' dressing gown to day robes and then convinced him to breakfast with her first, while he filled her in on their resident hole maker. Afterwards he bid her good day and headed to the library where he knew Hermione was conducting research on the problem that was quickly consuming nearly all of Albus' time and energy. When he arrived, the future Potion's Instructor looked up at him with a startled expression, and quickly shut the book she had moments ago been looking at intently. She then tried her best to slip the book underneath some of her nearby parchment notes and adopted a nonchalant pose for the Headmaster.

Albus chuckled to himself. She was every bit a Gryffindor – subtly was not their specialty. He knew that he had not been giving her any time at all to set her curriculum up for the Fall Term, and that the students would be arriving far too soon. Ms. Granger was no doubt trying to slip in a few moments here and there to organize her program when she was supposed to be researching Severus' dilemma at his request.

"So, Ms. Granger, have you had any more luck than I?" he asked with a smile, trying to pretend that he did not know what she had been up to.

Hermione's' face turned thoughtful and then serious. "Professor Dumbledore, I know it's been only a week, but what if there isn't a solution? It is not like magical bindings are commonly used anymore, and now that Sebastian's powers have been building for so long, I'm not sure that a full scale rebinding would even work."

It was now Albus' turn to grow serious. "My dear, I assure you, I have no desire to rebind his magic. Just to find a way to limit or redirect it. Have you seen anything that might help with that?"

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing that either you, Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick hasn't already tried. There is one potential potion that could be of use, but….well…"

"Yes, Ms Granger, please go on."

"It is very complicated and involves the Dark Arts. It seems to work on the theory of magical magnetism. If the...er…'victim' they call it, is kept dosed with the right amount of the potion, a portion of his powers will be drawn into the air by the magic that already exists there. The potion needs to be repeated regularly and there does seem to be a point where it loses its effect though." At this point Hermione summoned her courage and looked directly into the powerful wizard's eyes.

"Excuse me for saying so, Sir, but even if I was able to brew such a potion – and I am clearly not, indeed none of us could, except perhaps Professor Snape – I don't think it would be right to use it on him. He's been through enough. We've experimented on him so much, and every time we make it worse for him. Maybe we should have just let St. Mungo's handle him in the first place."

Albus nodded slowly. He had been so emotional that day after the battle. He had lost so many students, present and former, and seen so much hurt and pain. He had been so afraid that he would lose Severus too that he had clearly jumped without looking first. He should have just held Severus in the infirmary, immobilized of course, until he was sure St. Mungo's could handle him. Or he could have sent him somewhere else. There were plenty of fine magical hospitals in Ireland and the States. No, he had definitely not been thinking clearly. And now he had placed a crisis of his own making on the hands of both the staff and the Order, and of course, on Severus.

"Thank you for your help, Ms. Granger, as well as your thoughts." The Headmaster nodded politely and made his way out of the library and over to the other side of Hogwarts - to the infirmary, so as to relieve Poppy of her charge.

When he arrived he found a disturbing, but not unfamiliar sight. Severus was lying on a bed, his small chest rising and falling rapidly, and his hands tightly covering his eyes. The room surrounding him was in shambles. Several metal beds were upturned, nightstands knocked over and bed linens strewn around the room, The cupboards in the far corner were standing with their doors open, or completely missing, and there was not a single potions bottle on any of the shelves. Albus looked at the floor and saw splatters and puddles of colored liquid everywhere, but he could see no glass shards – Madame Pomfrey must have managed to remove those already for Severus' safety.

Just then the mediwitch arrived in the main room, exiting from her office. "Oh Albus, I was just trying to floo you. As you can see, Sebastian was attempting to 'help' me restock the cupboards. Things got a slight bit out of his control."

Albus looked over to the boy. He had not turned his head when the mediwitch spoke, but his breathing did seem a bit slower now. "Yes, I see. Was there anything else that occurred Poppy?"

Poppy Pomfrey wiped her hands on the apron of her uniform, and did not meet Albus' gaze, a sure sign she was about to lie. Hufflepuffs were even worse liars than Gryffindors. "No, everything else went fine."

"I'll bring him back to my office, then." Albus moved to the cot and gently removed Severus' hands from his eyes. The boy's eyelids were drooping and he was clearly falling asleep. He barely seemed to register the presence of his caretaker.

"I gave him a little something Albus, just to calm him down a bit."

Albus nodded and lifted the boy to his shoulder. The toddler did not protest at all. Apparently the potion was nearing full effect. "Thank you for watching him. I will send a house elf by to help you tidy up the place and I'll see to it that extra money is in your budget for replacement potions."

As he was making his way to the door with the now sleeping child, the mediwitch put a hand on Albus' arm and stopped him. "Headmaster, the child can not take much more of this. I know you are trying to find a solution, but something will have to be done soon. I gave him the potion because his heart rate was dangerously high. His body is just too small to handle magic at this level."

"But this is _his_ magic," Albus protested. "It is what he was _meant _to have." But even as he spoke the words Albus knew it was not true. He had unwittingly placed forty years worth of incredibly powerful magic into the body and mind of a two year old. Sebastian could not handle this. Albus wasn't sure if even Severus would have been able to handle it had they discovered these powers while he was still in his adult form.

Poppy released Albus' arm, but not before running a gentle hand along his robe sleeve to his fingers, and giving them a squeeze. "It's not your fault Albus. No one could have known what would happen."

Albus gave her a wane smile of thanks and headed out with the sleeping child. No, he could not have known. But perhaps he should have guessed. Nothing was ever given easily to Severus – old or young.

Authors notes:

Randi – Yeah, you were right. In the last chapter where is says that Ron and Harry pointed their wands at the flying frames, it was meant to be Ron and Hermione. Because of the H, and typing speed, I switched the names. I did reread it (twice) before posting, but missed it all the same. I would repost the chapter with the correction, but it seems minor. Does anyone know if I repost a chapter, do I lose those chapter's reviews?
    
    Athena Keating-Thomas – You may still have to wait a bit for the return of his voice. Getting his magic back didn't erase the trauma he experienced by losing it. He is still too close in age to the time when he experienced the original ceremony. He will talk again in this fic, but just not yet.
    
    To all my reviewers – Thank You! Your taking the time to send me your thoughts and comments means a lot to me. J


	12. Unexpected Meetings

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe on it.  

Chapter 12 – Unexpected Meetings

Albus sat in his armchair watching the boy closely. Severus was engaging in some type of competition against himself, trying to fit the shapes into his sorting cube, over and over, as fast as he could. He had been at the same activity for almost an hour now and normally he was quite good at it. But the dark haired child was growing tired and he was beginning to have difficulty matching the proper shape with its proper hole. Albus could sense there were only minutes to go until Severus' frustration peaked, and the cube exploded into wooden shrapnel.

The boy was already ensconced in a protective magical field of course, so there was little danger from the explosion itself. But Severus' anger at his inability to control his magic was also a worry. While the child had learned to tolerate most of his accidental surges of power, he became quite upset if he felt he had endangered someone, or destroyed something important. It seemed the toddler had inherited the older Slytherins' propensity for guilt.

"Sebastian?" Albus attempted to divert the child's attention.

The toddler whipped his head around at this disturbance and scowled. A moment later several books on the shelves behind the Headmaster flew off their perches and crashed around the older wizard. The boy's reaction was instantaneous – his hands flew to cover his eyes. Not that the powerful magic was hampered really by a set of small hands blocking it, but it seemed to give Severus a feeling of control over it all the same. And occasionally, the mere physical act of concentrating on his body, did seem to bring the magical surge to a halt.

Albus continued as if nothing had happened. "Shall we go see Minerva? We haven't been out all morning, and you must be feeling a bit shut-in. I know I am."

Severus dropped his hands and nodded.

"Perhaps she will turn into a cat for us if we ask her nicely."

The tiniest of smiles appeared on the child's face, and he walked to the door and waited. Albus retrieved a small steam engine that was pulled along by a string. It had been enchanted to blow colored smoke as it went, and Albus had found that if Severus' attention was focused on something else – such as making sure the locomotive was following along properly – accidental magic was less likely to manifest itself. 

This was especially important in the corridors of Hogwarts. With the arrival of August, nearly all the staff had returned to the castle, and though Albus trusted them all, he could not risk the possibility of some loose words alerting the Ministry to the boy's unusual abilities. With the recent demise of the Dark Lord, and the embarrassment over the government's lack of ability to protect the students, Minister Fudge had been making more and more ridiculous pronouncements. While each one was more absurd than the next, and few were ever likely to pass into law, his latest involved having wizards and witches register their levels of magical abilities with the Ministry. At the moment the proposal only referred to adults, but the Minister had scheduled an appointment with Albus, and the Headmaster had no doubt in his mind that Fudge was trying to feel him out about the prospect of testing and recording the students' powers. Albus of course, had no intention of assisting in such a charade. But he did worry about Fudge somehow finding out about the boy. The blasted man was always sure Albus was plotting in some way against him. A powerful child in Albus' care would not help allay that fear.

Well, he would handle the Minister some other day. Perhaps he would set up a meeting with the Order in the near future, to discuss finding a viable candidate to challenge Fudge in next year's election. Albus had always hoped that Harry would someday fill that position, but that would be years yet. Perhaps he could interest Amelia Bones in the idea?

Albus shook all thoughts of politics out of his head and knocked on Professor McGonagall's door. He was surprised when Remus Lupin opened it, but grew a bit concerned when he entered and found Molly and Arthur Weasley, Poppy Pomfrey and Hermione Granger all seated in Minerva's sitting room.

Albus looked down at the boy. "I suppose there won't be any 'turning into a cat' today, my boy. It seems someone is having a meeting." He then looked at Minerva, who though looking caught out, was watching him carefully from her spot by the fireplace. "Are we invited to join in?" he asked pleasantly.

With a few intricate waves of her wand, an umbrella stand near the door transfigured itself into a comfortable looking armchair and moved itself to the circle of Order members. Albus sat down and went to pull the boy onto his knee when Arthur waved the child over. The friendly head of the Weasley family spent a few moments admiring Severus' train and then reached in to his pocket and pulled out his wand. He carefully tapped the train a few times, and then giving Severus a wink, pointed to the stone floor. The child set the train down and gave it a pull, to his delight it made a chugging sound followed by a train whistle. 

The Headmaster gave Arthur a wink of his own. The distraction the father of seven had provided would give Albus ten minutes at most. But it would be long enough for him to hear what the others had come for, or to say.

Minerva cleared her throat and began. "Albus, we know what it is you want to do."

Trust her to get right to the heart of the matter, thought Albus. But all he answered with was a simple, "You do?"

"Yes, correct me if I am wrong, but you wish to return Sebastian back to his original state?"

"And what makes you say that, my dear?"

He was stalling of course, probably badly too - though he _had learned a few things from the Slytherins in his time. He had indeed been contemplating just such a thing. But this time he had decided not to rush the decision making process. He wanted to be sure, as Ms. Granger had said, that he wasn't just going to make the situation worse. The last three days he had spent every moment that Severus slept or was in another's care, to speak with healers from outside of Britain, read up on both wizarding and Muggle mental health, or contact old friends from far away places to get answers on uncontrolled magic. Still, though he was leaning in the direction of bringing Severus back to his adult state, he hadn't made that decision fully yet. And he wasn't sure if he wanted this decision to be put to a vote either._

Minerva shook her head sadly. "Albus, there is no reason to be difficult. We are on your side. Yours and Sebastian's. The child cannot handle this magic, not physically nor emotionally. And Poppy tells us that every time his power manifests itself his heart rate is putting him at great risk. Meanwhile, you sit in your office brooding and feeling guilty. That has never solved anything in the past and it won't solve anything now."

At this Albus narrowed his eyes and gave a scowl that would have made an older Severus proud. But in his heart he knew she was only being honest with him.

Poppy took up the mantle. "We are concerned for you Headmaster. This decision is weighing on you terribly, but there is no reason to carry this burden yourself."

It was Molly's turn now. "Yes, please let us help you. _No one should have to parent alone." At that she reached over to Arthur and gave his hand a little squeeze._

"Very well," said Albus. "Why don't you lot tell me what you think before Sebastian loses interest in his toy." He gave them all a small smile of thanks for their support and offer of help.

There was a bit of murmuring as they decided among them who would speak for the group, so Albus stole a quick glance at Severus, who had abandoned the train and was now admiring Minerva's collection of glass cats. She usually was wise enough to put them away when the child entered, but today she had not. He sincerely hoped she wasn't too fond of them. That uncomfortable thought was interrupted by the deep and soothing voice of Remus Lupin.

"We believe that Sebastian will not be able to survive as things stand now. Therefore the only solution is to age him. If Severus is willing, Hermione thinks there are things that he can learn to do – but only as an adult – to control his powers. It won't be easy, but it is possible. And Severus is one of the brightest and most resourceful wizards most of us have ever met." Then he smiled warmly at Albus. "Present company excepted, of course."

Albus returned the smile, and then for a moment no one said anything. There was an unspoken question that still hung in the air. It was Arthur who took the initiative and answered it. 

"He might be all right when he returns, Albus. He has had quite a few good months with you and Minerva; and now that the pain of having his magic bound has been dealt with, he may be just fine. _But, if Severus remains suicidal once he's returned, then we can help him with that too. Molly and I know of a healer in Ireland who can be of great help. He's a mind healer Albus, and he helped us tremendously last year when Percy had his breakdown. We trust his discretion as well." Molly bobbed her head in agreement._

Albus nodded thoughtfully. He remembered that. The boy had really lost it, gone quite a bit over the edge – everyone had been very concerned. But he was doing well now. Perhaps that could happen for Severus.

Just then a resounding crash filled the room. The glass cats had all magically exited their place on the shelves and been flung onto the stone floor, thankfully several feet beyond where the boy stood, hands now covering his eyes.

The Headmaster stood up quickly and mouthed an apology to Minerva as he made his way over to the child. The then lifted Severus into his arms, and to his pleasure, the boy stayed put. He pushed the dark hair gently away from the small ear and whispered into it, "It seems there are quite a few people who care about us. And I think, Severus, we may have come to a decision as well."

The boy lifted his head back a bit and looked into the old wizard's eyes. Then to Albus' complete surprise, the child smiled at him. Albus wondered all the way back to his office whether it was because the child had understood what he had said to him, or if he had just been pleased to hear Albus use his given name.

****

Once the decision had been made, Albus felt a great weight removed from his shoulders. It was quite a bit more freeing than Albus had ever realized not to have to be the sole person responsible for something. He had been the Headmaster of Hogwarts for quite a few years now, not to mention the Leader of the Order, the Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot, and the supposedly Most Powerful Wizard Alive (now up for debate) for so long, he had apparently gotten used to the feeling that he was on his own.

He smiled down at Severus who was eating his dinner at the work table in his old private quarters in the dungeons. Albus had spent most of the day down here with him. Every since the decision had been reached yesterday, Albus had been following the instructions of the healer the Weasleys had contacted for him. One of these was to reintroduce Severus to his old belongings, in the hope that he wouldn't experience familiarity overload upon his return. And an added bonus, Albus thought to himself, was that the reinforced stone dungeon and sparsely decorated bedchamber withstood the child's magical surges far better than his own offices.

Severus had finished all of his ham and roast potatoes, but had been pushing the bitter greens around his plate for the last few minutes. This had been one of the adult Severus' favorite dishes, but apparently memory did not carry over completely with taste buds – the sweets alone having proven that point – so Albus excused the child from the table. As he slid off his chair the remaining contents of the dish burst into flames. Albus doused it with a wave of his hand. 

The child wandered about for a bit, finally pausing to admire a wizarding chess set that sat on a nearby countertop. The pieces where made of either pewter for one side or bronze for the other, and represented various magical creatures. The pawns were kneazles, and Severus took a special interest in them, running his fingers along each one and then finally lifting one into his small fist. Albus watched amused as Severus slipped the tiny pawn into his trouser pocket and then padded into the next room. The Headmaster wondered if perhaps the boy intended to use the pewter kneazle as a potions ingredient.

Albus summoned a house elf to let him know the child had finished eating. Then he walked around the stone room for a bit trying to remember what it was like when Severus had been the school's Potions master and the Order's spy. It had been only a few months ago, but it seemed almost like another lifetime. Well, mused Albus, for Severus it _had been another lifetime. _

He had always been fond of Severus, first as an extremely talented student, and even more so later, when he had put aside his past and joined the Light. When the Slytherin youth was a pupil, Albus had tried to talk with the young man and get to know him better, but he had always resisted his overtures, never trusting a Gryffindor - even in Headmaster robes.

 Later, Albus had felt that Severus' coming to him when he wanted out of Voldemort's service was a personal vote of confidence. Perhaps he had more effect on the boy than he had originally thought? And finally, in the past eighteen years he had grown quite close to the man – as least as close as anyone could get with the surly Potion's Master. He had witnessed first hand the incredible stress that living a double life had created, and had been the one to listen to the man's ranting and ravings when the stress overtook him. But try as he might, he could never make in roads into relieving the guilt that he knew the Head of Slytherin House felt at his actions while working as, and with, the Death Eaters.

Still, as fond as he was of the man, Albus had grown equally fond of the boy. This Severus needed him too, but was far more open to his overtures of comfort and caring. The grown man was so hardened to others that in eighteen years Albus had had less success with him than he had made with his younger counterpart in two months. Would anything be different this time around, once Severus had been returned to his former self? The old wizard sincerely hoped so.

Albus was jarred out of his reverie by the realization that there was a voice coming from the small study off the larger room. Knowing that there was no one in the former Potion's Master's private rooms other than he and the boy, and that the voice – had the child spoke – was  far too deep to be Severus', Albus drew his wand and practically flew to the doorway. As he rounded the entranceway with a swirl of robes, he saw the startling sight of a tall figure in Death Easter robes crouching down and chatting with the child. His Death Eater mask was missing, but the hood of his robe blocked the Headmaster from seeing the man's face. At the sound of Albus' entrance, the figure turned slightly towards him, and then dove towards the opening in the wall from which he had come. Albus pointed his wand at the fast moving figure, but Severus stepped directly into the Headmaster's line of fire, and glared furiously at his caretaker. He had clearly taken Albus' interference in his 'conversation' as an offence.

The Headmaster pocketed his wand and moved quickly across the room, pushing the child roughly behind him. He then moved his hand along the wall's opening and felt the magic of the old school vibrate within his fingertips. He stood still for a moment and calmed his breathing. He reminded himself that the Death Eater had not harmed the child, and pushed any thoughts of what might have been, to the back of his mind. Then he turned back to the toddler. He guided him slowly into the other room, and sat down on a chair, placing the boy directly in front of him.

He tried smiling at Severus, who was till scowling, and spoke in a comforting tone.

"Would you show me in your mind what it was you just saw, Sebastian?"

The child backed up as Albus went to place his hand on the boy's forehead.

 The Headmaster tried again, "Won't you allow me to take a look?".

Severus folded his arms across his small chest and shook his head, his dark hair falling across his eyes.

The old wizard was growing weary. He was sorely tempted to force the issue with the boy – after all, the safety of Hogwarts' returning students was involved. Somehow one of Voldemort's minions had survived a stay in the castle's walls and something would have to be done to stop him. But after a moment's contemplation, he realized that it probably didn't matter which Death Eater it was very much. It was quite possible that the Death Eater had already become part of the castle itself, and could not survive long outside of the walls. Perhaps he was some sort of ghoul now. They were after all part ghost, and part living creature. And there were ways to rid a building of a ghoul. Albus would get Remus on it right away.

He took the child's hand and along with the pull-toy engine,  headed back out of the dungeons, up the stairs, and over to the main staircase. As he reached the second landing he spotted the deputy Headmistress walking along a nearby corridor. He waved her over and briefly explained to her what he had seen. Minerva's Gryffindor courage helped her to put on a good front, but Albus could see that she too was shaken. She offered to pass along the message to Remus, and alert Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, so that the Headmaster could spend a quiet evening with the child before it was time for him to go to sleep. Albus thanked her and attempted to continue on. But Severus let go of his hand and set off after Professor McGonagall, grabbing and pulling on the edge of her robe. 

She paused and looked down at him, turning her head slightly and lifting a questioning eyebrow. "Yes, Sebastian?"

The child reached into his pocket, fumbled about a bit, and drew out the small pewter kneazle. He placed it into the witches' hand and watched carefully as she brought it up to her face and examined it carefully.

"Is it a replacement for the cats you broke in my quarters earlier today?" she asked curiously.

Severus nodded.

"Thank you. I accept your offer." She gave him a nod and a smile.

Satisfied, Severus ran back to Albus, and the two headed up the final staircase, back to their home.

Authors Note: 

This was a difficult chapter to write. I know the last chapter seemed like a lot of filler, and this one might too, but if everything moves too quickly a lot of important information will get lost. If it helps any – we are indeed nearing the end now. 

Zippy Zany – I thought about what you said in your review and tried to work a bit of it into this chapter (the part about the kneazle). Hopefully there will be more to come. I will work on it.

CuriousDreamWeaver – Phineas is a favorite of mine too, so you can be sure we will be seeing more of him - slippery Slytherin that he is.

Rosaleen – No need to worry. As this story is told from Albus' POV, Severus can't be separated from the Headmaster for too long or we would have no idea what was happening to him. As for Minerva - well, she has her part to play as well in Sev's future.

Tall Oaks – Thanks! Saying those chapters were "fun" is quite a compliment!

Lucidity – As you can see from this chapter, you were on the mark.

Athena Keating-Thomas– I was trying to create just that sort of picture, only perhaps a bit more sympathetic than The Exorcist.

To everyone who has reviewed, once again, a very big thank you!!! And if you haven't reviewed yet, or want to do so again, please do. I'd love to hear from you!


	13. The Return of Severus Snape

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe upon it.

Note: I know some of you are dreading this chapter (hopefully not too many of you!). But _give it a chance_, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 13 – The Return of Severus Snape

Change, knew Albus Dumbledore, was the only true constant in life. Still, some changes were more welcome than others - and returning Severus Snape to his adult form was definitely in the latter of the two. Over the past two and a half months, Albus had grown to view the child as more than a temporary charge. The boy had become a tiny companion, someone on whom Albus could bestow both his wisdom and affection, without either being misconstrued. It had also been an opportunity for the Headmaster to have the smallest peek into the one great joy he had never been lucky enough to partake – parenthood. But it was all to end now. Severus' elevated heart rate had given them no choice, and no more time to ponder it.

"Headmaster, we really should get on with it," Poppy Pomfrey's gentle, yet insistent voice penetrated his thoughts. "He is getting restless."

Albus nodded and approached the infirmary bed. In the middle sat the dark haired boy, large black robes surrounding him, his small shoulders nearly poking in their entirety through the neck hole. Minerva reached over and adjusted the robes again, as she had been doing for the last five minutes. She sent Albus a telepathic message. "It is _time_."

The Headmaster rubbed his hands together in an effort to remove the cold feeling from them, the one that seemed to be permeating his entire body right now. Then he reached gently over to the child and placed a few fingers to his forehead. The child didn't so much as flinch. "Somnus," he whispered softly.

The child gave his caretaker an unhappy, quizzical look, as if he wanted to protest that it was not yet nap time. Then his eyes fell shut, and he leaned gently back into the bed, Professor McGonagall guiding his descent.

Albus waved over Hermione Granger and Remus Lupin, who had been politely waiting off to the side. The original spell had been conducted solely by Albus, but he had borrowed the required magical strength from Minerva, Ron, Harry and Ms. Granger. He had been weakened from the battle then, and had now made a full recovery, so it was doubtful that he truly needed the added power of even a single extra magical person. But Albus was taking no chances with this spell. He would use four extra people today, because he had used four people then. It was as simple as that.

The five participants drew their wands and pointed them at the sleeping child. Albus took one last hard look at 'Sebastian', placed a hand on his head, and closed his eyes. He then began the incantation that would return Severus to his adult form.

A moment later he found himself once again in Severus' mind. The long hallway in which he had once stood, reappeared. The light was at one end, just as it had been months ago, with a darkness of immeasurable distance on the other. Just as he was looking around, he felt a small tug on his robe. He looked down, and there was the boy, robes puddled about him on the floor, looking up at him questioningly with dark eyes. Albus wondered if the boy would understand an explanation, or if it would only serve to frighten him.

"Severus, I want to …," his words trailed off. He could never explain this to the child. It would be difficult enough to come up with the proper words any other time, but now he needed to keep up the incantation as well, if only in the back of this thoughts. So he tried a different tactic instead, sending telepathic images to the child of the boy at different ages. He tried to make the image of the young Severus grow into the man, but he could not quite work it out. The child looked even more confused.

Albus gave up. It was not really a choice for the boy anyway. What would come, would come. "Shall we go for a walk?"

The child took the old wizard's hand and as they made their way very slowly, due to both the huge robes and the need to age him carefully, along the corridor.

As they walked, the child grew. It was incredibly magical thought Albus, and he did not mean it as a pun. The way the human body was meant to grow, adapt and change was something he had hardly given much thought to before. To be sure, students came to him as mere children and left as adults, but the change was so slow that the human eye could not perceive it, and so the magic was lost on even those who experienced it. But now Albus could see right before his eyes the magic of the human body - in all its wonder.

While Albus was enjoying this phenomenon, the child was clearly ignoring it. Severus walked straight forward, looking only into the distant darkness, not sparing the slightest glance at Albus. The only sign that the boy was aware that he was not alone was the grip the child held on the Headmaster's hand.

The child, however, was not a child for very long. Soon the small boy grew to a school age lad, then to a youth that Albus remembered so well, next to a gangly teenager, and eventually to a young adult. Before long he had grown head to head with the Headmaster, his features taking on a decidedly mature look. His face filled out as they walked, his jaw elongated and his chest grew to fill the robes completely. The next thing Albus knew, they had come to the darkness that had once been in the distance. At that point Severus abruptly stopped walking, and his hand, which was still firmly attached to the Headmaster's, yanked the older wizard back. 

"It seems I cannot go any further, Headmaster," came the once familiar deep drawl of Severus Snape. 

****

Severus  sat in Albus' office, on Albus' favorite chair, reading a book that Albus had left there the evening before. It was the fourth book he had looked at since returning to the office, and he still had a stack of books he intended to read, on the table beside him. The Headmaster for his part, sat at his desk working on a formal rebuttal to Fudge's latest proposal, and said nothing. He was trying to watch Severus surreptitiously, to try and garner where his Potions Master's emotional state stood. He seemed to be doing quite well, but Albus would not rest easily until he was certain, and only after a long period of time had past. There was no point in chatting about it with Severus either. Slytherins were notorious in being able to hide their true emotions and often used other people's own words in an effort to confuse the issue. Albus recalled with a chuckle Minerva's one attempt at interrogation that morning:

_"How much do you remember, Severus?"_

_"Everything."___

_"Everything?"___

_"Everything."___

_"How can anyone actually **know** if they remember everything?"_

_"How can anyone ask someone 'How much do you remember?' if they can't possibly actually **know!?"**_

At that point Minerva had muttered something about "impossible people" under her breadth and excused herself from the infirmary. A few minutes later Poppy had given Severus a clean bill of health and allowed him to leave. The Headmaster however, following the strict instructions of the Weasleys' mind healer, would not allow Severus to be on his own. He had brought him back up to the Headmaster's rooms, and that had been where they had been since. To be truthful, Severus seemed no worse for wear. Indeed, he seemed quite a bit better than he had on the day of the battle. He appeared relaxed, did not protest when Albus informed him of the necessary restrictions, and had yet to exhibit any accidental magic. 

Albus' thoughts were interrupted by the familiar voice of Phineas Nigellus.

"Well, well. The Prodigal Son is back, is he?"

Severus put the book carefully down and approached the portrait. Looking up he smiled, or rather smirked. "Headmaster Nigellus, how nice to see you again. I want to thank you for showing me where Professor Dumbledore kept his rare wizarding coin collection. I am only sorry that I was so childish as to toss most of them into the floo."

At that Phineas took a step back in surprise, then turned red, scowled, and fled the portrait in a huff of embarrassment.

"Bravo Severus. I see you haven't lost your touch. And you'll be pleased to know that Molly flooed the coins back to me. The connection luckily was to the Burrow.

Severus nodded and went to return to his reading when Albus made his way across the office, and placed a hand on his shoulder. It had been an inadvertent action, taken from dealing with Sebastian, but the Potion's Master did not pull away as he would have been wont to do as his original former self.

"Let's go have a walk around the castle, shall we? I want to make sure that your memories are completely reawakened, and we can also check the ward alarms and traps Nymphadora and Kingsley set for our intruder."

At that last part Severus seemed as if he was about to say something. He looked intently at the Headmaster, opened his mouth, and then snapped it firmly shut.

The Headmaster was very suspicious, as well as curious. "Severus, do you by chance recall whom the Death Eater was that you spoke with in your dungeon?"

The Head of Slytherin House shook his head, blinking quickly several times. Albus sighed. The man was lying. Albus previously had had difficulty picking out Severus' lies from his normally recalcitrant behavior, but he had noticed quite clearly that the child blinked rapidly whenever he nodded or shook his head to impart a falsehood. It seemed Albus had a new and very useful insight now into his Potion's Master.

The old wizard decided however, not to call him on it. He still wasn't certain as to Severus' emotional stability, and he had been returned for less than six hours. He would wait until tomorrow before pressing him further.

The two men set out on their walk. They went carefully through the corridors, Albus checking the wards on a few rooms or speaking with some of the portraits that lined the large hallway. When they arrived at the next landing the staircase was connected to the opposite side of the floor, quite a distance from where they stood. Albus was just about to summon it when Severus interrupted.

"Allow me."

The Headmaster had not returned the wizard's wand to him, nor had he asked for it, so the older man was bit wary. Still, it might as well be now, as much as later, he mused. He nodded at the Slytherin.

Severus looked across the vast stairwell and said in an almost inaudible tone, "Accio staircase". A moment later a shot of light came from his eyes and the staircase began to rumble. It did not however, move. And worse, after a few more seconds, the object of Severus' summons crashed in a resounding roar to the ground, sending stones flying in every direction and a plume of dust rising upward.

Albus coughed a bit and then looked over at his companion. The man's hands had habitually flown to cover his eyes, and his mouth was clenched tightly in anger at himself. The Headmaster put a hand on his young friend's shoulder.

"It was actually a fair first attempt. If you are willing, Ms. Granger believes she may have some exercises that can help you learn to control your powers."

Severus dropped his hands to his side and scowled at the Headmaster.

"So, Ms. Granger will be remaining in the castle as my personal tutor, then? Or perhaps her official title will be 'Governess'?"

"She will be teaching first through fourth year potions," answered Albus, ignoring the sarcasm. At Severus' look of horror he continued," Come now, my boy. You never enjoyed teaching the lower forms anyway. The upper forms are of course still yours to teach. And this will free you up to have the time to practice controlling your magic. And perhaps even continue your potions' research, now that Voldemort is gone."

"I am still the Head of Slytherin?" Severus asked warily.

"Oh no, Ms. Granger will be taking that over too." It only took the Potion's Master a moment to realize that the Headmaster was joking with him, and when he had, Albus was rewarded with the first real smile of Severus' return.

By now several other members of the staff, having heard the crash of the staircase, arrived within viewing distance of the destruction. While Minerva and Filius were among them, so were Vector, Sinastra, Sprout and Madam Pince. Albus decided it was time to put on a show for his staff.

"Severus, how about repairing the staircase?"

"Headmaster, the Reparo Spell is not made for….", he trailed off realizing that the old rules might no longer be relevant for him. He sighed, looked intently at the heap of broken stone on the floor level beneath them, and muttered, "Reparo."

Immediately the stones swirled upward, each one inserting itself into its rightful place as it made its magical ascent. The stones had knitted themselves back together as if it was nothing more than a child's puzzle. As a benefit, the staircase had also ended its reconstitution directly at their feet.

"You see Severus, I knew that shape fitter cube was good practice." And with that statement and a smile the Headmaster started down the stairs, Severus trailing after him while several staff members watched, mouths agape. 

Over the next six hours they investigated all the warded and trapped areas of the castle. They found several of the wards tripped but not a single ghoul trap was activated. There were the occasional remains of food, but they had been only traces, as if the Death Eater had decided to clean up after himself now that they were aware of his presence. 

As they conducted the investigation, Albus noticed that Severus had seemed to have developed a fascination and curiosity with nearly everything he came into contact with. His younger counterpart had also had that same intensity to him, although it had taken him nearly a month before he had felt free enough to touch those things which interested him. Albus was pleased that Severus had maintained that curiosity. He had exhibited some of it as a student – at least academically speaking – but no doubt his early experiences with his father had taught him not to touch without permission. The Headmaster was extremely pleased that Severus had rediscovered that part of himself.

 By the time evening fell, and they had returned to the Headmaster's rooms, both Severus and Albus were clearly exhausted. Both yawned every few minutes, ran weary hands through their hair (and in Albus' case – beard), and often lost their thread of conversation due to a lack of ability to concentrate. But while the Headmaster was more than willing to turn in for the night, his Potions Master was not. The man was absorbed in his curiosity for nearly everything in Albus' office, even those things in which he had shown no interest in before. He had skimmed nearly every book within easy reach on Albus' bookshelves, had opened practically every cupboard and drawer in the office to check the contents, had investigated each artifact that dotted the Headmaster's rooms, and had stared intently at every portrait that graced the walls – disconcerting many of the portraits' residents. It was as though the man was seeing everything differently than he had for the past 18 years. Albus thought that perhaps he was viewing these items through the eyes of his childhood state, but now with the added benefit of his more experienced adult mind.

Unwilling to retire for the night until he was sure Severus was asleep first, Albus decided he could continue on no more. It was two a.m., and Severus could bloody well continue his investigations tomorrow.

"I am growing quite weary, my boy. We really should retire for the night," Albus suggested for the fourth time now.

"Go ahead, Headmaster. Don't let me keep you."

Albus gave Severus a shake of his head. "Just because I am a Gryffindor, doesn't mean I am a fool. I told you before, you are not to be on your own until I am satisfied with the state of your overall well-being."

The Head of Slytherin nodded towards Fawkes, who sat fast asleep on his perch. "He can watch me."

Albus sighed. He knew from experience that Severus was going to try to win by sheer persistence. "Fawkes is sleeping. Like everyone else, I might add."

"Well then, what about Headmaster Nigellus. He's usually quite nocturnal and as…"

"No! I am not going to leave you under the watch of a dead Headmaster who is more than certainly hiding something from me at the moment." Phineas snorted at that comment, but did not say anything in his defense.

"Minerva may still be awake."

"No."

"You could place a charm around me. It would alert you to any disturbance. Poppy uses it on her patients in the infirmary."

The Headmaster sighed. Yes, he was quite familiar with that charm. Unbeknownst to Severus, he had already placed several varieties of it upon the Slytherin. The old wizard tried to make his voice stern, though it was difficult to do when he was so very tired. "You are _not winning this argument Severus."_

"What would you say to…"

Severus never got the chance to finish. Albus had already made his way across the main office to the chair in which the obstreperous Potion's master sat. Upon reaching the startled man, the exasperated Headmaster reached out his fingers, and touching Severus' forehead, spat out an annoyed "Somnus!"

The Head of Slytherin House had just enough to time to be embarrassed, before falling asleep to a spell that seldom worked on anyone over the age of five.

Authors Note:  I hope all you 'small Severus' fans aren't too disappointed. There are still a few mysteries left to solve and an interesting future for our snarky and often trying Potions Master, so I hope you will all keep reading. Let me know what you think – for better or for worse. I also don't mind hearing suggestions. Thank you for all your feedback – I love hearing from everyone!


	14. A Slytherin Style Reunion

Disclaimer – I don't own it, I am not making any money off of it, and I am not trying to infringe upon it.

Chapter 14 – A Slytherin Style Reunion

Albus watched cheerily from his desk. His Potions Master was impressing both Minerva and Hermione with his ability to levitate seven objects at once. It was a party trick of sorts, since very few wizards could manage more than three, but in Severus' case it was a testament to all the long hours he and Ms. Granger had worked these past ten days in learning to control his powers. 

Not that he was free of accidental magical surges, not by any means. There had been numerous explosions, unexpected infernos, countless shatterings, and even the occasional injury that saw either Severus or Ms. Granger to the Hospital Wing. But that being said, most of the destruction had been reparable – with Severus becoming even better at building up than he was at tearing down. And it was that last bit that made the Headmaster happier than any other. For Severus, although sharp tongued and acerbic as ever, seemed to take great pleasure in using his new found powers in positive ways.

Originally, the Headmaster had feared that the man would shun the use of his abilities and go back to barricading himself in his dungeon potions work room, content to leave well enough alone. But instead he had embraced his rediscovered magic, as if he had always sensed that it was within him, but it had finally been made available for his use.

There was still the small problem of Minister Fudge, who that very morning had come pounding on the Headmaster's door, demanding to know what was going on with 'that scoundrel Snape'. Apparently the wizarding grapevine was alive and working quite well. Albus had tried to use the usually effective 'confused old man' approach, and was doing quite well with it, until Severus' and Ms. Granger's arrival. Headmaster sat back and smiled at the memory:

_"Snape, what is this I hear about 'unusual powers' that you suddenly possess?"_

_"Minister, I assure you, I have no powers now that I did not always possess."_

_"You would be willing to swear to that under Veritaserum, I presume?"_

_Severus nodded, a smirk beginning to grow on his face._

_"Very well then," continued Fudge. "I will be in touch. Good day Headmaster, Ms. Granger. I will see myself out."_

_The smirk grew to take over most of Severus' face. "Allow me to assist you, Sir." With that a jet of light emanated from the Slytherin's eyes and the Minister of Magic was unceremoniously levitated off the ground, and floated indignantly through the doorway of Albus' office._

_Headmaster Nigellus applauded from his frame, and Ms. Granger laughed so hard she had to excuse herself from the room in order to recover. Severus, for his part, had looked quite pleased with himself. All in all, it had been a very good – albeit potentially dangerous – performance._

Albus was jolted out of his recollection by Remus' voice coming from the fireplace. He was red faced and disheveled, and calling out the Headmaster's name. The Potions Master lost his concentration at Remus' shouting and the objects all fell to the ground. He fixed those items that broke with a quick, "Reparo" while the old wizard made his way across the room to the disembodied head of his former DADA teacher.

"What is it, my boy?"

"The trap in the middle kitchen pantry went off. I arrived to check it out. Someone…or something's been caught. I tried to enter but the Bloody Baron wouldn't let me. He's blocking the door and I can't pass through him. Not without frostbite, anyway."

"The Bloody Baron?" The Headmaster was confused. He turned to ask Phineas if he had any idea why the Slytherin Ghost would be involved, but when he did so he realized that the deceased Headmaster was now gone from his frame. But he wasn't the only one who had made a quick departure. Severus and Ms. Granger had also left the room.

"Minerva, where did they go?"

"Severus said something that sounded like "bloody hell", and ran out. Ms. Granger followed; I assumed that was because she is the one responsible for Severus today. But she also appeared to be quite upset as well. Is there something that no one has been informing me about, Albus?"

"Yes, but it is the same thing that no one is informing _me about either. And I think we are about to find out what that is. Remus, inform the Ministry – specifically Tonks or Kingsley - Minerva and I will meet you afterwards at the middle kitchen." _

The Headmaster quickly headed out the office door with the Deputy Headmistress at his heel. It seemed for once he might finally have the upper hand with this Death Eater. School would resume in little more than a week, so it was none too soon. Albus hurried on his way.

When he arrived in the old stone kitchen there seemed to be quite a little disagreement going on between Severus and the now formidable Ms. Granger. Over the summer Severus wasn't the only one who had under gone enormous change. Out from the shadow of her two friends, the Gryffindor girl had shown an independent streak that belied her usually authority pleasing demeanor. Combined with the self-confidence developing success of helping to solve the mystery of the Potion Master's missing magic, Ms. Granger was no longer willing to back off her opinions when challenged. She had shown that side of herself to the Headmaster a few weeks ago in the library, and she was apparently showing that side to Severus now.

Unfortunately, the moment the two of them saw Albus and Minerva enter, they dropped their argument and settled for glaring at each other.

"Have you spoken to the Bloody Baron yet, Severus?" the Headmaster inquired. The pantry door was just beyond the far corner of the kitchen.

Severus looked to the floor and Ms. Granger turned her head to the side, away from the onlookers. "Not yet."

"Why not?"

"I will do it now," Severus replied, conveniently avoiding answering Albus' question. Something that was not lost on the Headmaster. 

Severus headed off, and Hermione went to follow, but the old wizard called her back. He was not that good at reading Slytherins – no one was, it was the nature of their House – but he could read Gryffindors like an open book. And he knew just how to turn their pages too.

"Ms. Granger, you are hiding something from me. Up until a few days ago I thought you were simply planning your curriculum on the sly – keeping an old busybody like me out of things. But that was naïve of me, wasn't it?"

Hermione blushed.

Remus walked in at that moment and could feel the tension in the room. He was experienced enough with human nature to stay quiet until he knew what was going on. 

It was Minerva's turn to have a go. "Hermione, if you expect to be a staff member here then you cannot keep important things from the Headmaster. It is not professional to keep secrets. It is not Gryffindor, either." She put a little extra emphasis on 'Gryffindor'.

"I am sorry Headmaster, but I didn't think you'd approve."

Professor McGonagall harrumphed. "All the more reason to mention it then."

The Headmaster intervened. He did not want this becoming a lecture on the finer points of Gryffindor morality. He simply wanted to know what was happening. "Please, Ms. Granger. Tell me."

"The Death Eater, Sir, I was helping Headmaster Nigellus find a way to get him safely out of the castle."

Minerva nearly choked on nothing more than the air in the room. "_You_ were assisting a Death Eater? _You _were the one undoing the wards and informing that creature of which rooms held the traps?" 

Albus put a hand on Minerva's arm to calm her. Ms. Granger looked near to tears. Just then a voice from a painting of a medieval kitchen intervened. It was Phineas, looking very out of place in someone else's painting – a situation he usually avoided for very long. "No, it was usually I, or the Baron, who informed our guest in which rooms he could safely exit the castle walls. Unfortunately neither of us can open doors, and as nearly all unused classrooms are locked, we were unable to get him out of the building all together."

Phineas paused to make sure that his audience was suitable horrified, and seeing that they were, he continued cheerfully, "At first we weren't even sure he would be able to survive outside the walls, but Ms. Granger was kind enough to find a spell which released the castle's hold on him. You will no doubt be pleased to know that she did refuse initially to help us simply open a door and let him walk out. She claimed she needed to 'think it over'. A real surprise coming from a Gryffindor I must say. I commended her for that. But unfortunately, by the time she had made up her mind to help him," and at this point Phineas paused to give the old wizard a disapproving look, "those ridiculous aurors of yours  had placed so many wards, traps and alarms that it was no longer possible for him to leave. Which if _you_ had given it any thought, Headmaster, should have been your goal."

"Professor Dumbledore, please, let me explain…" Hermione never got the chance. The sound of shouting and thrown objects crashing came from the nearby pantry.

 The four Gryffindors flew to the small room, which was now unblocked, and ran in through the doorway. The Bloody Baron took one look at the approaching Gryffindors, shook his head in disgust, and floated off through the nearest wall. Meanwhile Severus stood with his arms crossed, his eyes emitting the eerie light, and his magic spinning a horizontal Death Eater in midair. The magical trap lay released and forgotten, on the side.

Minerva, Remus and Albus pointed their wands at the rotating figure, but Severus had him completely under his control.

"I promise you Headmaster, he is not harmed. Perhaps a bit dizzy, but not hurt in the least."

The Headmaster was completely confused by now. "I am glad, Severus. But I have no objection to you fully defending yourself if necessary."

Severus broke the magical connection and the man fell to the floor. He immediately began retching from the dizziness, and Minerva called out a quick 'Stupefy'. She ignored the glares she received from both Severus and Hermione.

The Potions Master then turned his full attention on his Headmaster. "Was it not you whose voice still resounds in my head saying 'YOU WILL NOT HURT OTHERS. NOT EVER AGAIN', or am I mistaken?" He gave the older wizard a raised, questioning eyebrow for effect.

The Headmaster suppressed a chuckle. He had said exactly that indeed. Several months ago, right after Severus hit Harry in the face with a wooden horse. Amazing, but he had gotten through to the boy, hadn't he? But he did need to clear one misconception up. "I did not mean in cases of self-defense."

"Ah, well, this was NOT self-defense. Unless you count throwing cans of mushy peas at me to be life-threatening."

By that time Remus and Minerva had already approached the prone figure. The werewolf had cleaned him up with a flick of his hand and he had pulled back his hood. Minerva gave a small gasp. "It's Marcus Flint, Headmaster," Remus reported.

Albus went over to the young man, with the Slytherin Head of House, and Ms. Granger flanking him. He ran a wand over the unconscious form and shook his head. "He is not a ghoul. He is as alive as any of us. How could he have survived in the walls of Hogwarts without being crushed?"

"He was saved by the Baron, Sir," came Hermione's voice, soft, but regaining in confidence. "During the battle he found Marcus being pulled into the walls. He convinced the castle to put him into an air pocket. Then he and Phineas sought me out to find a spell that would allow him exit the castle walls." At Minerva's disapproving glance Hermione looked to Snape for support. His nodded for her to continue. "I had no choice. If I didn't help him he would have died of thirst within a few days! They wanted to free him, let him out of the school to go into hiding, maybe on the Continent somewhere, but I wasn't sure. Finally I met with him. He's not really so bad. He didn't want to be a Death Eater. He had no choice - like so many Slytherins. It was either accept the mark or have your entire family killed as a warning to others."

"And you believe him?" It was Remus' voice, but it wasn't critical. He was merely questioning. 

Hermione nodded.

Severus' deep voice filled the small pantry space. "She was right to believe him. None of the Slytherins in the last half dozen years had a choice. Mr. Flint initially tried not to join. After graduation he went to France to apprentice for a broom maker, but his parents insisted he return. The Dark Lord was becoming suspicious of their loyalties. He was initiated last year. He wasn't a very enthusiastic … participant." He paused for a moment as if considering whether to say what was on his mind or not. Then he looked directly at the Headmaster and took a deep breath. "Slytherin House was filled with students that had no choice. The few who were lucky enough to be at the school at the time of the battle were finally given that choice, but that can not be said for the ones who came before. There was no choice, and no second chances, for any of them…except me."

Albus noticed that Minerva had uncharacteristically closed her eyes as Severus had spoken. He realized she was probably reliving those horrible moments from the battle. The horrific deaths of those Death Eaters who had been pulled into the castle's stone was something most of them had pushed out of their minds. Why was it always so much easier to push the deaths of Slytherins to the side, than it was the deaths of those from other houses? 

"It has been my personal experience," the Headmaster began, "that Slytherins do well with second chances. Do you think if we wake up young Mr. Flint he would accept our offer?"

Severus snorted. "If he doesn't, I am sure Headmaster Nigellus and the Bloody Baron will help persuade him." 

And so Albus enervated the young man, and brought him to his office. Remus dealt with the arrival of Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt, while Severus, Minerva, Hermione, Phineas and Albus spoke with the young Slytherin. Sometime before midnight, they arrived at an agreement which satisfied everyone.

****  
  


Albus and Severus were making their way up to the castle from the gate. They had just apparated back to Hogwarts after Severus' interrogation with Veritaserum. The questions had been posed by Fudge himself. And since the man was even less competent at questioning than he was at governing, the Head of Slytherin had no difficulty satisfying the specially appointed Commission to Investigate Unusual Magical Phenomena. Indeed, by the time the crafty Slytherin was done, he had them practically convinced that while his magic had always been present, he had purposely limited it to keep the Dark Lord from attempting to use it to his advantage. Albus mused, and not for the first time, that it took quite a bit of brilliance to manipulate the truth into a self serving fiction while under the influence of Veritaserum. Apparently he was the only one who noticed just how much the Potions Master was blinking.

Figuring he would take advantage of any bit of the truth serum that still flowed in Severus' veins, the Headmaster ventured a question.

"So, what was it you and Ms. Granger were arguing about the day we discovered Mr. Flint in the middle kitchen pantry?"

Severus sighed. "She wanted me to free Marcus from the trap and send him back into the walls. She thought that now that I was 'returned' to being myself, the two of us could find some way to spirit him out in the middle of the night with no one noticing. I suppose she was romanticizing the idea of his staring a new life on some other continent, foolish Gryffindor that she is."

"And what did you think should be done?"

"I wanted Mr. Flint to stop running, and to speak to you."

They both paused in their walking and looked directly at each other. Albus felt honored that Severus trusted him on that level. He wondered if maybe someday Marcus Flint might feel that same sort of trust. "I am glad you took the stance you did, my boy."

The Potions Master nodded and turned to continue walking. "I have always believed in facing your difficulties and not running away."

The Headmaster was so dumbfounded by that statement coming from Severus, that for a moment he forgot to walk. He had to run to catch up to his Head of Slytherin, and when he did so, he finally heard the hearty laugh that was coming from deep in the younger wizard's throat. Apparently the Veritaserum had worn off.

Author's Note: 

Okay, that's all the mysteries solved (I hope). It also brings me to the end of the main story. If you think I forgot to solve any mystery or resolve any situation, please let me know ASAP so I can get it taken care of. I will have one more chapter, which will be an epilogue that takes place about six months later.

I put some comments below for specific reviewers, but to everyone who has reviewed, a tremendous thank you. I really appreciate your taking the time.

Vekura – He is definitely an adult now, with an adult mind and an adult body. The ceremony that took place in the last chapter was the reverse of the one from the first chapter. Maybe it was the Somnus charm that confused you because it seldom works with anyone over five? It was simply that the force of habit to fall asleep to that spell was so recent in Severus, he could not fight it off.

Chickens – I read a fic that had Severus' older self meeting his younger self, once. That would have been an interesting idea. Cool guess.

Lucidity and Marie – Have no worries about this turning into a HG/SS story. This is not going to be a romance story at all. No ships sail in this fic.

RandiWeasley – I sort of skipped over their "first meeting" as you can tell. But Hermione did have a big part to play in this chapter and I think she and Severus will be able to pull off a working relationship in the future. It is hard to be too snarky and arrogant with someone who babysat you. ;o)

Theox – You meant all the apostrophes, right? I don't know why I always do that. I know they don't belong there. Thanks for reminding me.


	15. Come, Build a Land

Disclaimer – This is not the work of J.K. Rowlings and I mean no copyright infringement to her, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Brothers, nor anyone else. This story is not for profit - just simply for fun.

Chapter 15 – Come, Build a Land

_Come, build a land where the mantle of praises_

_Resound from spirits once faint and once weak;_

_Where like oaks of righteousness stand her people._

_Oh, come build the land, my people we seek._

_"We'll Build a Land" by Barbara Zanotti*_

Albus Dumbledore made his way across the quad towards two of his favorite people – Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape. The two Heads of Houses were supervising the dueling class, newly incorporated into the curriculum, of their students. It had been Severus' idea, a safe way in which the two Houses could work out some of their notorious feud, as well as burn off the excess energy young Slytherins and Gryffindors tended to possess. 

Albus smiled as he watched the dueling from afar. It had really been a superb idea. The two Houses had gone for it wholeheartedly, and rather than raise animosity as Albus had originally feared, it tended to create camaraderie. It didn't hurt either that Minerva and Severus often had them fight in pairs with mixed House partners.

Albus stopped his ambling and moved himself over to the edge of a stone fountain. He preferred to watch for a bit from a distance, as his presence seemed to make Severus self-conscious. He had spent such large amounts of time ensuring the well being of the Slytherin that every time he now approached, the man acted as if he was being supervised. 

Truthfully, no longer did Albus worry that Severus might take his life. It had been months since he had needed a minder. Instead, he now relied on the Potions Master to mind Marcus Flint, who was doing quite well as the school's new caretaker. As he was not a squib like Argus Filch, his work was completed much faster and he had plenty of spare time to help Severus with the Slytherins.

And the Slytherins did take up quite a bit of time. It had been Severus who had formulated a plan for restructuring his House in the hopes that it could be once again returned to a House of honor, with its name and reputation properly restored. His plan included such simple items as refurnishing the common area, rotating the Head Boy/Head Girl positions so that a Slytherin would be given the position periodically, appointing an assistant Head of House (Mr. Flint) and placing a portrait of Phineas Nigellus in the common room to spy...well, report anyway, on the activities of the Slytherins. More daunting was the need to convince the other staff members to treat the Slytherins with more dignity, and to be more tolerant of their needs for showmanship and pride in front of the other Houses. Similarly difficult was convincing the other students to treat their Slytherin schoolmates with respect, and not contempt. But with Albus, Minerva and Filius coming down hard on bullying from all Houses, the other students stopped, and in turn so did the Slytherins. It didn't hurt either that by now almost everyone knew that the Slytherin Head of House was most likely the most powerful wizard in the world, and that he had helped Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort. Indeed, Albus had quite an amusing time spreading the most outlandish rumors concerning the feats that Severus supposedly accomplished during the final battle. The only thing more amazing than the stories he told, thought Albus, was that so few questioned the veracity of his claims. Well, thought Albus, as Severus always liked to say, "the world is one part fool and a second part dunderhead!"

Growing tired of watching from afar the Headmaster approached his staff members. Severus harrumphed at his approach.

"Checking up on me, again, Headmaster?"

Albus chuckled. He wondered if he would ever be able to convince the man that he simply enjoyed his company. "No Severus, checking up on Minerva. You know how much trouble she can be."

"Indeed I do," was Severus' dry retort. Minerva simple pursed her lips and walked a few feet away from both men.

Albus winked at Severus. "She's not near enough fun when she won't take the bait." He then took out his little pouch and offered it to Severus. "I have toffees today."

Severus reached in and popped two into his mouth. Albus smiled, he had definitely had a most positive effect on the boy.

 In truth the entire summer's experience had had a life altering effect. The Headmaster wasn't sure what it was that had made all the difference, indeed he might never really know for certain. Was it unbinding the magic, and returning to the man what should have been his, that washed away most of his anger? Was it the end of the war with Voldemort, which meant an end to all the pain and frustration that living a double life had created? Or perhaps it was the friendships that now existed between Severus and Minerva, Poppy and yes, even Remus and Hermione, that could not have existed before. For once Severus had shown his true self to them - even as only a small child – it was truly impossible for him to put that mask back on. They had seen him for what he was and they liked him. That, mused Albus, was no small thing for a man who had spent most of his life without companionship. 

Whatever it was, it had changed his Head of Slytherin. Severus was calmer, more outgoing, and definitely less angry. Though it could never be said that he was a sweet or gentle man, Albus knew that he would always remember that Severus had once been both of those. 

Just as Albus was about to ask Severus if he would like to see the small box of items he had held onto from the summer – including a porcelain potions bowl and a small green tunic - one of the Gryffindor students was blasted into the air and landed with a thump. A moment later hair began to grow all over the downed student's body, covering every area except his eyes, which looked out wide and fearful.  Both Severus and Minerva strode over to the fallen boy and his Slytherin dueling partner. Severus put out a hand to stay anything Minerva had to say, and then crossed his arms, peering down at his fourth year Slytherin.

"You can fix this, I presume, Mr. Stoker?"

The Slytherin swallowed, "No, Sir."

"What is the third rule of Slytherin House?" Albus chuckled to himself. Severus had invented the 'Ten Rules of Slytherin House' and had them literally tattooed (albeit temporarily) on their foreheads the first month of school.

The boy became stiff and barked out the third rule as if he where at Auror training school. "'Never do what you cannot undo', Sir."

"That will be ten points from Slytherin for breaking a House rule. You will also escort Mr. Calvin to the Hospital Wing. Furthermore, by breakfast Saturday morning you will have written the third rule of Slytherin House one thousand times. That is five hundred times for breaking the rule, and five hundred times for getting caught."

It took all Albus had not to break out in laughter at that last part. Well, Slytherin House was not Gryffindor and Severus certainly knew how to handle them. He had to give the man high marks for creativity.

The boy walked towards the castle door, his hand on the shoulder of his hairy Gryffindor counterpart. The school bell sounded and the remaining students pocketed their wands and gathered up their bags. It was time to go inside. The winter sun was dipping behind the castle, and while the quad protected the students from the worst of the winter winds, it would soon be dark and quite a bit colder.

Albus smiled at his two companions. "Can I invite the two of you to my chambers this evening? Amelia Bones sent me a lovely bottle of port in gratitude for my help with her campaign. It seems the polls show she is firmly in the lead."

Severus snorted, "As much as I would love to partake of anything that is indirectly associated with the removal of that dunderhead Fudge from office, I have promised Minerva here a game of chess in the dungeons tonight."

Minerva smirked. "Yes, Severus is attempting to regain his dignity after last week's defeat."

 Albus thought briefly to himself that with Minerva taking on Severus' facial expressions, perhaps the two where spending too much time together. "You could play your game in my office. I have a lovely wizarding chess set you know. Given to me by my Great-grandfather."

Severus sneered. "I _used_ to have a lovely chess set. But someone will not return my pawn. So now I have an _incomplete_ chess set."

Minerva shook her head firmly and managed the feat of looking down her nose at someone who was taller than her. "That kneazle is in repayment for several items of mine you destroyed. You offered it freely and I accepted it as such. Now, if you continue working with me on transfiguration, I am sure a talented wizard such as yourself will be able to transfigure your own kneazle in no time."

For a moment Albus actually thought he heard Severus growl at the Head of Gryffindor. But whatever he did hear, it did not last long because Severus suddenly turned around in a sweep of robes and stalked inside. It seemed that there were only two things that the world's most powerful wizard could not to manage – the first was a successful transfiguration, and the second was getting the upper hand with Professor McGonagall. Amazing, thought Albus, how some things never really change.

The End

I know this chapter was short, but that is often the nature of epilogues! I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I did writing it. If you have a moment I would greatly appreciate knowing what you thought of the story in its entirety and any suggestions or comments you may have. This was my first posted HP story and any feedback will help me in future stories (I welcome suggestions for future stories too). I do know that Severus wound up a bit OC at the end, but that was intentional as I wanted to write a story in which returning to his childhood could ultimately result in his having a better future. 

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read!!! And a very special thank you, as always, for those who have taken the time to review.

*The title of the story and the verse in italics comes from a hymn called "We'll Build a Land." I am usually more of a pop rock person than a hymnal person, but this is one of my favorite songs. If you want the full set of words, just type the name of the song into a search engine and you can take a look. It is very simply a song about rallying people from a world of destruction to building a better place for all. Inspiration for the House of Slytherin, as well as the rest of us. ;-)  


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